
(lass ~BS 25SS ~ 

Book T38 



GOSPEL HISTORY 



LONDON : PRINTED BY 

SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET RQUAltK 

AST) PARLIAMENT STREET 



THE 



GOSPEL HISTOEY 



AND 



DOCTKINAL TEACHING 



CRITICALLY EXAMINED 



BY THE 



AUTHOR OF 'MANKIND, THEIR ORIGIN AND DESTINY 



LONDON 
LONGMANS, GEE EN, AND CO. 

1873 



All rights reserved 



VS"tJL 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Codex Siuaiticus — Selection of the canonical gospels — Selection of the Jewish 
canonical books — The Jewish traditional law — Origin of the Septuagint Ver- 
sion — Its reception in Judasa —The Sibylline Oracles — - Admissions of Eusebius — 
Justin's Apology — Dishonesty of Church writers — Origen on the Gospel His- 
tory — Ancient Theophanies — Alterations in the text of the gospels — The 
Apocryphal gospels — The Judaeo-Christian gospels — Bishop Marsh's hypo- 
thesis — Examination of the fourth gospel — The dogma of Original Sin — The 
Talmud opposed to this dogma — The story of the Fall examined — Philo and 
Origen explain it allegorically ...... page 1 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth of John the Baptist — The names of the angels Persian — The genealogies of 
Christ examined — The descent of Christ from David impossible — Contradic- 

• tions in the narratives of the birth of Christ — Isaiah's prophecy examined — 
Jewish Messianic expectations — The early Christians were all Jews — The 
Messianic Star — The Massacre of the Innocents unhistorical — Christ in the 
Temple ......... 53 

CHAPTER II. 

Date of the birth of Christ — The taxing of Joseph and Mary unhistorical — The 
Messianic idea among the Essenes — The baptism of Christ — Contradictions in 
the narrative — Examination of the chronology of the third gospel — The Temp- 
tation — The call of the apostles — Nature of the office— The power of binding 
and loosing explained . . . . . . .77 

CHAPTER III. 

The Sermon on the Mount examined — Origin of the Beatitudes — Observance of 
the Mosaic Law enjoined — The doctrine of purgatory taught — Asceticism en- 
joined — Misquotation of the Old Testament — Origin of the Lord's Prayer — 
The teaching of Hillel . . . . . . .100 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Essenes — Philo's account of them — Origin of the Pharisees — The Assideans — 
Origin of the Essenes — Their religious practices — Their exorcisms and miracu- 
lous cures— The Ebionites — Jewish expectations of the Messiah — Early Christian 
miracles — The Talmud on miracles . . . . .116 



3 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Transfiguration — The Triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem — The 
Betrayal of Christ — Pontius Pilate — Caiaphas — The trial of Jesus — Contra- 
dictions in the narrative — The forged order for his crucifixion — The mocking 
and crucifixion of Jesus — Jewish and Roman practices at executions — The 
inscriptions on the cross — The prophecy of Jonah — The crucifragium unhis- 
torical ........ page 133 

CHAPTER VI. 

The darkness at the Crucifixion — The Apostles' Creed — The Jewish Scheol — 
Jewish ideas of the resurrection — Man a Microcosm — The burial of Jesus — 
Contradictions in the narrative — Pilate's letter to Tiberius — The ascension not 
mentioned in the original gospels — The passage in Tacitus respecting Christ — 
Irenseus ignores the Crucifixion— The Sibylline predictions — Cassini's astrolo- 
gical system — Misquotations in the gospels . . . .157 

CHAPTER VII. 

Eusebius's period — Meaning of the word Evangel— The Evangelium Eternum — 
The doctrine of vicarious punishment — The Day of Atonement — The letter of 
Publius Lentulus — Forged letters from heaven — The Ebionites reformed Jews — ■ 
Meaning of the words Son of God — Dialogue between Peter and Paul — The 
Acts and Epistles contradict each other — Nature of Inspiration . .184 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Augustine on Original Sin— Philo's doctrine of the Logos — The Calvinistic doc- 
trine — Initiation adopted by the Church — Persecution of the Pagans by the 
Christians — Doctrinal teaching of the Egyptians and of Orpheus — Speculations 
of the philosophers on the origin of evil — Philo on the origin of evil — The war 
of the rebel angels — Ascent and descent of souls according to the ancients — 
Plato's division of souls ....... 207 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Metempsychosis a Jewish belief- — Destiny of the soul according to the 
Fathers — Cardinal Bellarmine on Purgatory — Universal Redemption taught by 
many of the Fathers — Origin of the demons and of Satan — Augustine and 
Origen on the literal interpretation of Scripture — Examination of the Apoca- 
lypse — Allegorical meaning of the word Babylon — Two Messiahs expected 
by the Jews — Prophecies invented by the Fathers — Incorporeal nature of 
Christ asserted by Augustine — Origin of Mithraism — Antiquity of Chris- 
tianity ...... . 229 



THE 



GOSPEL HISTORY 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Life of Jesus Cheist is contained in four evangels 
(svayysXta) , or " good tidings," the earliest known manu- 
script of which is the Codex Sinaiticus, which belongs to 
the earlier part of the fourth century. This manuscript is 
of great importance, both on account of its antiquity and 
because it is in all probability one of the fifty copies of the 
Scriptures which Constantine ordered to be made in Byzan- 
tium in a.d. 331, under the superintendence of Eusebius. 
These evangels, or gospels, were originally anonymous, and 
even so late as the time when the Codex Sinaiticus was 
written their titles are simply, " After Matthew," &c. These 
evangels make no allusion to any supernatural help, or Divine 
inspiration, but show from the manner in which they un- 
hesitatingly contradict each other that the idea of infallibility, 
or canonicity, such as was given in their time to the books of 
the Old Testament in the synagogue, was entirely foreign 
to the authors with respect to their own writings. The 
following pages, some portions of which have already ap- 
peared in print, contain the results of modem critical enquiry, 
combined with original investigation, into the origin and 
historical value of these biographical narratives. 

The canonicity of our present gospels was not established 
till the Council of Nice in a.d. 325. Pappus, in his Synodicon 
to the Council, tells us how it set about choosing the gospels 
which it intended to adopt out of the immense number of 
gospels then in existence. He says : — " Having promis- 

B 



-i GOSPEL HISTORY. 

euously put all the books that were referred to the Council 
for determination under the communion table in a church, 
they besought the Lord that the inspired writings might 
get upon the table while the spurious ones remained under- 
neath, and that it happened accordingly." The gospels 
which Gelasius ought to burn remained, we are told, under 
the table, and the four inspired ones got upon it, and were 
declared to be canonical ! Subsequently to this Council, 
however, a general revision and correction of the gospels was 
made at Constantinople in a.d. 506, by order of the Emperor 
Anastasius. This extraordinary order runs as follows : — 

" Messala Y. C. consule, Constantinopoli jubente Anastasio 
imperatore, sancta evangelia, tanquam ab idiotis evangelistis 
composita, reprehentur et emendantur." 

"The illustrious Messala being consul, by order of the 
Emperor Anastasius, the holy gospels as having been written 
by idiotic evangelists, are censured and corrected." Signed 
Victor, Bishop of Tunis, in Africa. (See Cave, Hist. Lit., 
vol. I. p. 415.) 

The Council of Mce was composed of the mystical number 
of 318 bishops, and presided over by the "pious" Constan- 
tine. Sabinus, the bishop of Heraclea, affirms, however, 
that " excepting Constantine himself, and Eusebius Pam- 
philus, they were a set of illiterate simple creatures, that 
understood nothing." Constantine, however, said that what 
was approved by these bishops could be nothing else than 
the will of God himself, since the Holy Spirit, residing in 
such great and worthy souls, unfolded to them the Divine 
will (Socr. Schol. Eccl. Hist. 1. I. c. 9). The mystic number 
318 is explained as follows in the Epistle of Barnabas (VIII. 
10-14), which was very generally held, especially by Origen 
and Jerome, to be canonical and genuine : — 

" Understand, therefore, children, these things more fully, 
that Abraham, who was the first that brought in circumcision, 
looked forward to Jesus, circumcised, having the mystery of 
three letters. For the Scripture says that Abraham circum- 
cised three hundred and eighteen men of his own house. But 
what, therefore, was the mystery made known to him ? Mark 
first the eighteen, and then the three hundred. For the 
n umeral letters of ten and eight are I H. And these denote 
Jesus. And because the cross was that by which we were to 
find grace, therefore he adds three hundred, the root of which 



SELECTION OF THE JEWISH CANONICAL BOOKS. 3 

is T (the figure of his cross). Wherefore by two letters he 
signified Jesus, and by the third his cross. He who has put 
the engrafted gift of his doctrine within us, knows that I 
never taught anyone a more certain truth : but I guess that 
ye are worthy of it." 

Cotelerius has shown that many of the Fathers agreed 
with the author of this sublime specimen of reasoning on 
this subject, and it was of course recognised by those who 
convened the Council of Mce. 

The Jewish canonical books were selected from the rest 
by much the same process as the gospels. The learned 
Jew Spinoza says in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, — " I 
presume to conclude, from all that precedes, that before 
the time of the Maccabees there was no canon of Holy 
Writ extant, but that the books we ha ye were selected from 
amongst many others by and on the authority of the Pharisees 
of the second temple, who also instituted the formula for the 
prayers used in the synagogue." The Talmud (Treatise 
Sabath. 1. II.) says : " The wise men wished to suppress the 
book of Ecclesiastes, because its words contradict each other. 
But, having well considered the matter, they did not do so, 
because the beginning and end of it are words from the Thorah 
(the Pentateuch). They also wished to suppress for ever 
Solomon's Proverbs." It is not stated why this was not 
done, but perhaps Meghunja, the son of Hiskias, who pre- 
vented the destruction of EzekiePs writings, preserved this 
work also. 

The grand synagogue which decided upon the canon of 
Scripture did not assemble until after the subjection of Asia 
to the Macedonian power. Like the Christian council, its 
decrees became binding on the faithful, and came to be 
regarded as a Sinaitic revelation, or, as it is expressed 
theologically, they became Halacha le Mesche mi- Sinai. 
Eusebius says that it was not allowed among the Jews that 
everyone should determine who was guided by the Divine 
Spirit to write the sacred books, but that only a few persons 
were charged with this duty, who were also divinely inspired, 
and that they alone determined what bocks were sacred and 
prophetic, and rejected those which were not. The only 
means, therefore, of ascertaining whether a book of the Old 
Testament is inspired is, that an unknown Jew, who says 
that he is divinely inspired, shall be able to say that it is so ! 



4 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

The same process, as Josephus and Eusebius inform us, 
was adopted with regard to the historical parts of the Old 
Testament, which Josephus says were not allowed to be writ- 
ten by anyone. " This," he says, " was reserved for the 
prophets, who knew by divine inspiration what was future 
and distant from them, and who also wrote what happened 
in their own time." ~No doubt it required a great deal 
of inspiration to assert, for instance, that Solomon em- 
ployed 153,600 workmen for seven years to build the temple, 
which Villapandus has proved cost, according to the text, 
six thousand nine hundred millions of pounds sterling 
(6,900,000,0002.) ! Yet Herodotus, who travelled through 
Syria, knew nothing of Solomon's empire, though we are 
told (2 Chron. ix. 23, 24) that " all the kings of the earth. . . . 
brought' every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels 
of gold, and raiment, harness and spices, horses and mules, 
a rate year by year." Josephus found the neglect of the 
temple by Alexander so unsatisfactory that he found it ex- 
pedient to forge a story of his having visited Jerusalem, 
where he never was. 

The doctors who composed the synagogue say : " Moses 
received the law on Sinai : it was transmitted from Moses to 
Joshua, from Joshua to the elders, from the elders to the 
prophets, and from the prophets to the members of the great 
synagogue." This is intended to include, not only the sacred 
writings, but also the oral or traditional law said to have 
been given to Moses on Sinai, and committed to memory by 
Aaron and the rulers of the congregation. The Talmud is 
emphatic on this subject. It says (Treatise Berachoth, 1. 1.), 
" Whoever shall transgress a command of the wise men is 
deserving of death." And that there may be no mistake 
as to who the wise men are, it repeats in Treatise Erobin, 
1. I., " Whoever transgresses a command of the scribes 
(Sopherim) is deserving of death." When the great syna- 
gogue assembled these sopherim had obtained almost abso- 
lute authority in spiritual matters. The Talmud (Treatise 
Berachoth, 1. I.) also says that the traditional law is of equal 
authority with the books of Moses : "It is written, ' Jehovah 
said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be 
there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and the Thorah, 
and the Mitzvah (commandments) which I have written that 
thou mayest teach them.' The 'tables' mean the Decalogue; 



THE PENTATEUCH NOT WRITTEN BY MOSES. 5 

the ' Thorah ' means the Pentateuch ; the ' Mitzvah ' means 
the Mischnali ; i which I have written ' means the prophets 
and hagiographers ; ' that thon ma jest teach them/ means 
the Gemarah (the Talmnd). Hence we conclude that all 
this was given to Moses on Mount Sinai." This and 
other passages show that the traditional law, taught by the 
general assemblies which were first instituted by Ezra and 
]STehemiah, were invested with the same authority as the 
written law. 

Rabbi Michel Weill says, " What is certain, what results 
from several traditional passages (Talmud, Meguilla, fol. 3 
and 7) which have never been the subject of any serious doubt, 
is that the holy books were first arranged in the time of 
Ezra." Irenseus (1. III. c. 15), Eusebius (1. I. c. 8), Clemens 
Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. I. c. 2), Tertullian (De habitu 
mulierum, 1. I. c. 3), Basil (Letter to Chilo), and others of 
the Fathers go much beyond this, for they hold that the 
books of the law had been burnt by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
that Ezra was really the author of these books. It is certain 
that the law of Moses is not once alluded to in the Old 
Testament till the time of Malachi, who wrote in the time of 
Nehemiah, and is not mentioned again until Dan. ix., a 
chapter which speaks of the repair of the fortifications of the 
temple and of Jerusalem 69 weeks, or 490 lunar years after 
the sentence had been issued that the Jews might return 
from captivity. The books which Moses wrote, according to 
the references to them in the Pentateuch, differ from any 
of the five books now ascribed to him. They are " The War 
against the Amalekites," which we are told (Exod. xvii. 14) 
that Moses wrote by God's command ; " The Book of the 
Agreement " (Exod. xxiv. 4, 7) ; and " The Book of the Law 
of God," subsequently augmented by Joshua by an account 
of another covenant (Josh. xxiv. 25, 26). The Book of the 
Agreement, which has perished, was to be esteemed impera- 
tive upon all, and even upon posterity (Deut. xxix. 14, 15), 
and Moses, it is said, ordered the book of this second covenant 
to be religiously preserved for future ages. 

The preface to the Mischnah tells us how the traditional 
law was committed to memory. It says that the Jewish 
mysteries were revealed orally to Moses on Mount Sinai; 
that Moses communicated them in the same way to his 
brother Aaron ; that afterwards, placing himself on Aaron's 



6 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

right hand, he called Eleazar and Shuraar, Aaron's sons, and 
went over them again with them in his presence ; that after- 
wards he sent for the seventy elders and repeated to them 
what he had said to the others ; and that at length he caused 
the whole people (about three millions in number) to be 
assembled, and once more proclaimed what had been revealed 
to him. 

The Hebrew Scriptures were unknown to the Gentile 
world until the Greek translation of them, known as the 
Septuagint, was published. As this version is used alter- 
nately with the Hebrew version by the evangelists, it is 
necessary to introduce here a short account of its origin and 
peculiarities. 

About two centuries before the Christian era, foreign 
conquest and domestic dissensions had led to a very general 
dispersion of the Jews. Jewish colonisation in Egypt was 
favoured by the Ptolemies, and Alexandria, where this 
Jewish population principally resided, became the centre of 
an active propaganda in favour of Judaism. The genius 
of the religion thus became mingled with that of Greece, 
and this was the origin of the influence which the Greeks 
afterwards exercised upon Christianity. By degrees Alexandria 
became a sort of metropolis for the Jews of the Dispersion, 
and it became more so than ever when distinguished refugees 
fled thither in order to escape from the hated rule of the 
Syrians. 

Onias IV., who was the son of the last high priest of 
the sacerdotal branch of Joshua ben Jozadok, and whose 
family had supported the interests of the Ptolemies against 
those Jews who were in favour of the Syrians, was among 
those who sought refuge in Egypt (Jos. Ant. XXTI. III. 1). 
Onias was welcomed by Philometor, who considered him to 
be the representative of a political party which might be of 
use to him. Eventually Onias and Dositheus, who also 
belonged to the priestly caste (Esther XL 1), and had accom- 
panied Onias to Egypt, became the generals of Philometor 
(Jos. Ant. Apion, II. 5), and having placed themselves at the 
head of the Egyptian Jews, they repulsed the king's brother, 
who had taken up arms against him, and restored the throne 
of Egypt to Philometor, who had fled to Cyprus. The grate- 
ful king gave Onias a sort of supremacy over the Jews in 
Egypt, with the title of Ethnarch. This supremacy resem- 



ORIGIN OF THE SEPTUAGIST VERSION. 7 

bled that of the Prince of the Captivity (Eesch Galouta) at 
Babylon, who was ruler over the Jews of the Euphrates. 

Onias, seeing the precarious condition of the Jews in 
Palestine, and relying on Isaiah xix. 19, " In that day shall 
there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of 
Egypt/ 5 obtained from Philometor some land in the neighbour- 
hood of Heliopolis; and the temple of Onias (Beth Chonjo) 
was erected in the small town of Leontopolis, on the ruins oi 
an ancient temple. The new temple did not resemble the 
temple of Jerusalem externally, for it was a species of tower 
built of brick, but the interior resembled it in every respect, 
except that a gold chandelier, suspended from the roof by 
a chain of the same metal, replaced the seven-branched 
candlestick of the older temple. The priests and Levites 
who had fled from Judgea conducted the sacrifices and minis- 
trations of the new temple, which Philometor endowed with 
the revenues of the town of Heliopolis and its neighbour- 
hood. Ewald fixes the date of the inauguration of the temple 
of Onias at 160 B.C. The whole of the surrounding district 
formed from this time a small sacerdotal government called 
Onion (Jos. Ant. XIII. 1, Bell. Jud. VII. VIII, 5). 

Philometor, struck by seeing so many distinguished re- 
fugees from Palestine voluntarily exiling themselves from 
their country, began to interest himself in them. Aris- 
tobulus, a Jewish philosopher, who had studied Greek philo- 
sophy, and who belonged to the Peripatetic school, held 
many conversations with the king respecting Judaism, and 
at length Philometor ordered him to translate the Penta- 
teuch. An old Jewish tradition says that the Pentateuch 
was translated into Greek by five wise men. There is no 
doubt that the translation was made by more than one per- 
son. Aristobulus was one of the translators, and Lysima- 
chus, the son of Ptolemy, of Jerusalem, who translated the 
Book of Esther for Philometor, was another. Whatever tbp 
number of the translators may have been, it is certain tha* 
they went to the island of Pharos, near Alexandria, in order 
to complete their work in retirement. 

Aristobulus wrote a species of preface, or dedication to the 
king, which was intended to prevent misconceptions relative 
to certain biblical expressions respecting God. Certain pas- 
sages which might have given offence to the king if trans- 
lated literally, have been altered. Thus, out of regard to 



8 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

the king's ancestor Lagos, who gave his name to the dynasty 
of Lagides, the literal translation of the Hebrew word Ar- 
nebet, the Greek equivalent of which is the word Xaycbs (a 
hare), was abandoned in order to avoid classing that quadru- 
ped among the unclean animals ! The name of Jehovah was 
altered into " The Lord " in order to avoid writing the word 
Jehovah in Greek letters. This practice has been followed 
by the writers of the New Testament, so that Christ is made 
to speak of God in the words of the Septuagint version. 
The quotations from the Old Testament in the gospels are 
almost always in the words of this version, which the ortho- 
dox Jews had the greatest horror of, and from which it is 
impossible that Christ can have quoted. Another alteration 
was an addition to the ages of the patriarchs, which made 
the creation of the world to have taken place in 5390 B.C. 
instead of 4121 B.C. as our version has it. Both these dates, 
however, differ from that which is assigned to this event by 
Josephus, who fixes it at 5688 B.C., which he must have 
taken from the Temple copy of the Scriptures which Titus 
made him a present of soon after the fall of Jerusalem, and 
which he had had in his possession twenty-eight years when 
he published his " Antiquities of the Jews." Another re- 
markable alteration is, that the east wind mentioned in 
Exod. xiv. 21 as dividing the waters of the Red Sea, has 
been altered into the south wind, iv avs^w voicp. 

The Egyptian Jews were so much pleased with the interest 
the king took in their religion, and with the opportunity 
which the Septuagint translation afforded of making it 
known among the Greeks, that the day on which the Greek 
version of the Pentateuch was presented to the king was 
kept as a festival, and the anniversary was commemorated 
by a pilgrimage to the island of Pharos. This anniversary 
soon became a popular festival, which commenced with 
prayers and hymns, and terminated with eating and drink- 
ing in booths or in the open air, and eventually the whole 
population of Alexandria used to take part in this national 
festival of the Egyptian Jews. Those Jews who remained 
in Palestine, however, looked upon the translation of the 
sacred idiom into another language, in which it was im- 
possible to express its meaning, as a profanation, and they 
kept this same anniversary as a day of national mourning. 
The 8th of December, therefore, became a day of national 



CONVERSION OF CONST ANTINE. 9 

rejoicing in Egypt, and a day of fasting and of mourning in 
Judsea. 

The name Septuagint has been given to this version of 
the Scriptures owing to a legend, which says that the 
curiosity of Ptolemy Philadelphus had been excited by his 
librarian, Demetrius of Phalera, who presented the books of 
Moses to him as being worthy of a place in his royal library, 
and of the honour of being translated. The king is said to 
have sent two ambassadors, Aristeas and Andreas, at his 
instigation to Eleazar, who was then high priest at Jeru- 
salem, with rich presents, and with instructions to obtain 
from him some learned men who understood both Latin and 
Greek. The king, it is said, was so anxious to gain his 
point, that he bought at his own expense, and set at liberty, 
all the Jewish slaves whom his father Ptolemy I. had cap- 
tured. Eleazar, overwhelmed with these proofs of good- 
will, chose seventy-two men of the greatest learning among 
the Jews, six out of each tribe, and sent them to Alexandria. 
These seventy-two men completed the translation of the 
Pentateuch-ill seventy-two days, and read it in the presence 
of the king and their fellow-countrymen. It was also said 
that each of them was shut up in a cell that they might not 
communicate with each other, and yet that in spite of this 
their version was perfectly identical, and that all present 
were compelled to recognise this translation as the result of 
Divine inspiration ! 

Constantine, who presided over the Council of Mce, and 
who is called the first Christian emperor, never became a 
Christian until the remembrance of his crimes drove him to 
embrace a faith which promised to save him from the con- 
sequences of them on his death-bed. The rest of his life was 
a strange mixture of Paganism and Christianity, in which 
the former predominated. When he completed the building 
of Constantinople (a.d. 344), which he says (Cod. Th. 
1. XIII. tit. 5) that a divine revelation impelled him to 
build, he had its horoscope drawn by the astrologer Yalens 
on the eighth day of the festival of its dedication, which took 
place on the 11th of May (Adren.). He worshipped Apollo, 
or the Sun-god, whose altars were covered with his votive 
offerings. The people were brought to believe that the 
emperor beheld the visible image of Apollo with his own 
eyes. He published two edicts in the same year, the first of 



10 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

which enjoined the observance of the Dies Solis, or Day of 
the Sun [Sun -day] (Ad. Theodos. 1. II. tit. viii. leg. 1 ; Cod. 
Justinian, 1. III. tit. xii. leg. 3), to which his Pagan subjects 
can have had no objection, while the second directed the 
regular consultation of aruspices (Cod. Theodos. 1. XYI. tit. 
10). Tertullian (Apol. c. 21) says that the Christians in his 
time used to assemble in the morning on the day of the sun 
for religious purposes out of hatred to the Jews, who used to 
meet on the Sabbath ; and that the Christians were forbid- 
den to abstain from work on that day that they might not 
imitate the Jews. One of Constantine's medals, which was 
struck in a.d. 315, bears the inscription, Solis Invicto Comiti, 
" To the Invincible Companion of the Sun." Another medal 
has his bust on one side and the god Anubis on the other. 
He always retained the title and prerogative of Pontiff, which 
gave him absolute jurisdiction in matters relating to the 
Pagan religion. Many of the medals give him the title of 
God, with which the monogram of Christ (which is also that 
of Jupiter Ammon) was associated. The title, ensigns, and 
prerogatives of Sovereign Pontiff were accepted without hesi- 
tation by seven Christian emperors, and Paganism was toler- 
ated from Constantine down to Gratian, who was the first of 
the emperors who refused the title and dress of Pontifex 
Maximus as inconsistent with being a Christian. 

Constantine murdered his eldest son, Crispus, in the same 
year that he presided over the Council of Nice. He had 
previously murdered his wife's father, Maximian, his sister 
Anastia's husband, Bassanius, and Licinianus, his nephew 
by his sister Constantia. He had also drowned his un- 
offending wife, Fausta, in a bath of boiling water, besides 
murdering his friend Sopater, and Licinius, his sister Con- 
stantia's husband. Eusebius (Life of Constantine, 1. III. c. 
73) says that a coin was struck to perpetuate the memory of 
this holy personage, " whereon was engraven the e~Bigy of 
this blessed man, with a scarf bound round his head, on one 
side, and on the other he was represented sitting and driving 
in a chariot, and a hand reached down from heaven to take 
him up " ! The real reason why he inclined to and ulti- 
mately adopted Christianity is to be found in Zosimus and 
Sozomen, who say that he applied to his faithful friend 
Sopater, a Pagan priest, whom he afterwards murdered, to 
free him from the consequences of his crimes. Sopater, 



THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES. 11 

however, refused to administer spiritual consolation, saying 
that the purity of the gods admitted of no compromise with 
crimes like his, and Constantine then turned to the Christian 
bishops, "who promised him that by repentance and baptism 
they would cleanse him from all sin," and he was at length 
baptized during his last illness. 

Niebuhr (Hist. Rome, vol. Y. p. 359) says of Constantine : 
" The religion which he had in his head must have been a 
strange compound* indeed. The man who had on his coins 
the inscription Sol invictus, who worshipped pagan divin- 
ities, consulted the haruspices, indulged in a number of 
pagan superstitions, and, on the other hand, built churches, 
shut up pagan temples, and interfered with the Council of 
Nictea, must have been a repulsive phenomenon, and was 
certainly not a Christian. He did not allow himself to be 
baptized till the last moments of his life, and those who 
praise him for this do not know what they are doing. He 
was a superstitious man, and mixed up his Christian religion 
with all sorts of absurd superstitions and opinions. When, 
therefore, certain Oriental writers wish to call him laairo- 
aroXos, they do not know what they are saying, and to speak 
of him as a saint is a profanation of the word." 

In Constantine 's Oration to the Clergy (c. 18) we find the 
following extraordinary statement of what was to him the 
truest evidence of the Christian religion : — 

" Here we must needs mention a certain testimony of 
Christ's divinity, fetched from those who were aliens and 
strangers to the faith. For those who contumeliously de- 
tract from him, if they will give evidence to their own testi- 
monies, may sufficiently understand thereby that he is both 
God and the Son of God. For the Erythraean Sibyl, who 
lived in the sixth age after the Flood, being a priestess of 
Apollo, did yet, by the power of Divine inspiration, prophesy 
of future matters that were to come to pass concerning God, 
and by the first letters, which are an acrostic, declared the 
history of Jesus." 

In the next chapter he says : — " The truth of the matter 
doth manifestly appear, for our writers have with great study 
and accuracy compared the times, that none can suspect that 
this power was made and came forth after Christ's coming, 
and therefore they are convicted of falsehood who blaze 
abroad that these verses were not made by the Sibyl." In 



12 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

c. 20, which is entitled " Other verses of Virgil concerning 
Christ, in which under certain veils (as poets use) this knotty 
mystery is set forth," he speaks of the fourth Bucolic of 
Virgil as the ultimate proof and main evidence of the Christ- 
ian religion ! This, however, sinks into insignificance be- 
side the recognition of the inspiration of these books by the 
Apostle Paul himself. Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. III.) 
says : — 

"As God, out of his desire to save the" Jews, gave them 
prophets, so raising up prophets also to the Greeks from 
their own nation and language, as far as they were capable 
of receiving that good gift; of God, He separated them from 
the vulgar, as not only the preaching of Peter, hut the Apostle 
Paul also declares, speaking thus : — ' Take the Greek books 
into your hands, and look into the Sibyl, how clearly she 
speaks of one God and of things to come ; then take Hys- 
taspes [an ancient king of the Medes] also, and read, and 
you will find the Son of God much more clearly and evi- 
dently described, and that many kings shall employ all their 
force against Christ, out of hatred to him and to all that call 
upon His name.' " 

Augustine makes the Erythrsean Sibyl to be a citizen of 
God's holy city ! He also says that Homer spoke truly of 
God, and that he borrowed many of his verses from one 
Daphne, a Sibyl, who lived at the taking of Thebes. Jo- 
sephus also quotes the oracles respecting the building of the 
Tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues. He also 
quotes Histieeus as mentioning the plain of Shinar in Baby- 
lonia, "for he says, 'such of the priests as were saved took 
the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius and came to Shinar of 
Babylonia.'" Eusebius, Jus:in, Jerome, Lactantius, and 
many others, both Pagans and Christians, recognise these 
oracles as inspired. Last, but not least, the Roman Catholic 
Church has sanctioned these Pagan impostures by placing 
the Erythraean Sibyl in the Sistine Chapel at Rome, as well 
as over the door of the Casa Santa at Loretto ; by having 
their figures beautifully inlaid in the marble floor of the 
cathedral at Sienna ; by having their statues placed' in a 
church at Venice which formerly belonged to the bare-footed 
Carmelites, and by placing their oracular utterances on a 
level with those of David in the hymn beginning " Dies irse, 
dies ilia." 



ADMISSIONS OF EUSEBIUS. 13 

Eusebius, who presided over and directed the Council of 
Nice in conjunction with Constantine, is considered by Pe- 
tavins to have been an Arian. He held that Jesus Christ 
created the substance of the Holy Ghost. Cave says that 
" there are many unwary and dangerous expressions in his 
writings," and adds, that " He subscribed the Nicene Creed 
as he would have subscribed any other, though contrary to 
his convictions and to the sense of his writings both before 
and after that council." The reason of this pliability was no 
doubt his anxiety to please Constantine, who, he says, " alone 
of all the Roman emperors was beloved of God, and hath 
left us the idea of his most pious and religious life as an 
inimitable example for other men to follow at a humble 
distance" ! Constantine, who had espoused the views of the 
orthodox party, had issued the following proclamation to 
" the bishops, pastors, and people wheresoever :" — 

" Moreover we thought good, that if there can be found 
extant any work or book compiled by Arius, the same should 
be burned to ashes, so that not only his damnable doctrine 
may thereby be wholly rooted out, but also that no relic 
thereof may remain to posterity. This also we straitly com- 
mand and charge, that if any man be found to hide or con- 
ceal any book made by Arius, and not immediately bring- 
forth the said book, and deliver it up to be burned, that the 
said offender shall die the death. For as soon as he is taken, 
our pleasure is that his head be stricken off his shoulders. 
God keep you in his tuition." — (Socr. Schol. 1. I. c. 6.) 

Such were the means by which the orthodox faith was 
established by " Constantine, the puissant, the mighty and 
noble emperor," as he styles himself in the title of this edict. 
Lardner compassionates the time-serving Eusebius, whose 
regard for his head seems to have outweiglied his con- 
scientious scruples, and thinks that "better had it been that 
the bishops of that council (of Nice) had never met together, 
than that they should have tempted and prevailed upon a 
Christian bishop, or anyone else, to prevaricate and act 
against conscience." 

The admissions of Eusebius are of the most startling de- 
scription. " It is wonderful," says Lardner, " that Eusebius 
should think that Philo's Therapeutse were Christians, and 
that their ancient writings should be our gospels and 
epistles." The wonder, however, is less that he should have 



14 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

held that opinion than that he should have given utterance 
to it, though Jerome (De viris illustrious, e. 8) has said the 
same thing. Eusebius probably forged the celebrated testi- 
mony to Jesus Christ in Josephus, for while it is quoted in 
two of Eusebius's works, it is not to be found in any of the 
ancient apologists for Christianity. The letters that passed 
between Jesus Christ and Abgarus, king of Edessa, which 
are translated into Greek in his Ecclesiastical History (1. I. 
c. 13), and which he says he himself found at Edessa, written 
in Syrian, were also probably forged by him. In his Ecclesi- 
astical History (1. VII. 19) he says that the Christians at 
Jerusalem preserved and worshipped the episcopal throne of 
James, their first bishop ! He also pretends (ib. VII. 18) 
that he had himself seen in one of the streets of Jerusalem 
the monument which the woman who had an issue of blood 
had erected to Jesus Christ, as also an unknown plant, which 
grew beside it, and which cured all diseases. He unfortu- 
nately forgot that we are expressly told that the woman had 
spent all that she had on physicians (Mark v. 25 et sqq.) ; 
Luke viii. 45). The monument he speaks of was no doubt 
one which had been erected in honour of the Emperor 
Adrian (see Heinichen, Exa. ad Euseb. ; H. E. vol. III. pp. 
412 and 396). 

It seems strange to us that an emperor who was still a 
Pagan Pontiff, and who in that capacity officiated during his 
whole life as a priest of the gods, as Constantine did, should 
preside over an assembly of Christian bishops. But inde- 
pendently of the personal reasons which led Constantine to 
favour Christianity, the broad line of demarcation which 
now separates Paganism from Christianity did not then exist. 
Justin Martyr addressed an Apology in a.d. 141, " Unto the 
autocrat Titus iElius Adrianus ; unto Antoninus Pius, most 
noble Csesar and true philosopher ; unto Lucius, son of the 
philosopher Csesar, and adopted of Pius, favourers of learn- 
ing ; and unto the Sacred Senate, with all the people of 
Rome, on behalf of the Christians," in which he says : — 

" If we hold some opinions near of kin to the poets and 
philosophers in greatest repute among you, why are we un- 
justly hated? Eor in saying that all things were made in 
this beautiful order by God, what do we seem to say more 
than Plato ? When we teach a general conflagration, what 
do we teach more than the Stoics ? By opposing the wor- 



justin's apology for Christianity. 15 

ship of the work of men's hands, we concur with Menander 
the comedian, and by declaring Logos to be the first-begotten 
of God, our Master Jesus Christ to be born of a Virgin with- 
out any human mixture, and to be crucified and dead, and 
to have risen again and ascended into heaven, we say no 
more in this than what you say of those whom you style the 
Sons of Jove. 

" For you need not be told what a number of sons the 
writers most in vogue among you assign to Jove. Mercury, 
the interpreter of Jove, in imitation of the Logos, is wor- 
shipped among you. [It is necessary to observe that Mer- 
cury had been styled the Logos, or " the word that in the be- 
ginning was God, and that also was a God," Centuries before 
this Justin wrote his Apology.] You have iEsculapius, 
the physician, smitten by a thunderbolt, and afterwards 
ascended into heaven. You have Bacchus torn to pieces, 
and Hercules burnt to get rid of his pains. You have Pollux 
and Castor, the sons of Jove by Leda, and Perseus by Danae. 
Not to mention others, I would fain know why you always 
deify the departed emperors, and have a fellow at hand to 
make affidavit that he saw Caesar mount to heaven from the 
funeral pile. As to the Son of God, called Jesus, should we 
allow him to be nothing more than man, yet the title of the 
Son of God is very justifiable on account of his wisdom, 
considering you have your Mercury in worship under the 
title of the Logos and the Messenger of God. 

"As to the objections of our Jesus being crucified, I say 
that suffering was common to all the fore-mentioned sons 
of Jove, only they suffered another kind of death. As to his 
being born of a virgin, you have your Perseus to balance 
that. As to his curing the lame, and the paralytic, and such 
as were cripples from their birth, this is little more than 
what you say of your iEsculapius." 

In this as in other Christian writings of this and later 
periods, no attempt is made to deny the existence of the 
heathen deities, or the truth of the popular beliefs respecting 
them. Justin, the author of this Apology, owes his title of 
Martyr to an absurd story told by Eusebius (H. E. 1. IV: 
c. 15) of his being knocked on the head by Crescens, a cynical 
philosopher, because Justin had accused him of an infamous 
offence. 

Clemens Alexandrinus says in his Stromata, " Those who 



16 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

lived according to the Logos were really Christians, though 
they have been thought to be atheists, as Socrates and 
Heraclitus were among the Greeks, and snch as resembled 
them." In another passage of the same work he says that 
there is no difference between a true Gnostic and a perfect 
Christian. Origen (Adv. Gels. 1. VI.) says, " For God showed 
these things unto them, and whatsoever things have been 
well spoken," and in the same work (1. I. c. 6) he reproaches 
Jesus Christ with having borrowed several things from Plato ! 
In a letter to St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, he says that by 
ordering the Israelites to steal from the Egyptians that they 
might have wherewithal to contribute to the worship of 
Jehovah, God seems to have wished the Christians to steal 
Pagan philosophy, in order to make it appear like Christianity. 
St. Augustine (Confessions, 1. VII. c. 9, 13, 20) admits that 
the commencement of the fourth gospel is the teaching of 
Plato. In another place (ib. c. 19) he also admits that it was 
the dogmas of Plato that made him adopt those of the Chris- 
tians ; that he learned from the Platonists, " that the Word 
existed before all things, that he was from all eternity with 
God, that he created all things, that he is the only son of the 
Father, and lastly, that he is equal to the Father, being of 
the same substance as the Father." 

Arnobius goes so far as to say that " If Cicero's works had 
been read as they ought to have been by the heathen, there 
would be no need of Christian writers." Ludovicus Vivus, a 
learned Catholic writer, confesses that " there can be found 
no other difference between Pagan and Popish worship before 
images, but only this, that names and titles are changed." 
The Manichseans, of whom St. Augustine was one until he 
left them through disgust at not being admitted to the higher 
grades, and who were the most distinguished for learning 
and intelligence of all the Christian sects, possessed a work 
called the " Theosophy, or Wisdom of God," the purport of 
which was to show that Judaism, Paganism, and Manichseism, 
or Christianity, were one and the same religion (Fabricius, 
vol. I. p. 354). The celebrated eclectic philosopher Ammonius 
Saccas, whose teaching was approved of by Athenagoras, 
Pantsenus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and all who had the care 
of the public school belonging to the Christians of Alexandria, 
and which was afterwards adopted by Longinus, Plotinus, 
Heremius, Origen, Porphyry, Jamblichus, Sopater, Julian 



DISHONESTY OF CHURCH WRITERS. 17 

the Apostate, and Chrysanthius his master, Hierocles, Proclus, 
and many others, both Pagans and Christians, held that 
there was no difference between the Pagan and Christian 
systems. He held that the religions of Melchizedek, of 
Pythagoras, and of Jesus were the same, and that Justin 
Martyr spoke nothing but the truth when he declared that 
Socrates was a Christian. 

Mosheim says that in the fourth century, " it was an 
almost universally received maxim that it was an act of 
virtue to deceive and to lie when by such means the interest 
of the Church might be promoted." As to the fifth century, 
he says, " The simplicity and ignorance of the generality in 
those times furnished the most favourable occasion for the 
exercise of fraud, and the impudence of impostors in con- 
triving false miracles was artfully proportioned to the credulity 
of the vulgar, while the sagacious and wise, who perceived 
these cheats, were overawed into silence by the dangers that 
threatened their lives and fortunes if they should expose 
the artifice." In another part of his history he traces the 
origin of this flagrant dishonesty to the Platonists and 
Pythagoreans, who, he says, held it as a maxim that it was 
not only lawful, but praiseworthy to deceive, and even to use 
the expedient of a lie, in order to advance the cause of truth 
and piety ! The Egyptian Jews received this maxim from 
them before the Christian era, and the Christians became 
infected with this pernicious error from both these sources. 
This is why the Fathers and others assert that what they 
teach is often only true in a spiritual sense, that is, that it is a 
pure invention. Thus Origen (Comm. in Joan., vol. X. § 4) 
says that every passage of Scripture has a spiritual meaning, 
but that every passage has not a literal meaning ; that there 
is often a spiritual truth under a literal lie — X(o^ojllsvov tto\- 
XatcLS tov a\r)6ov9 7rvsv/uLaTiK0v ev ra> aay/iarLKQ), 0)9 av eTttoi ri9, 
yfrsvhsL. He also says that the Scriptures have incorporated 
into their history many things which never took place, and 
that a person's understanding must be limited who did not 
see for himself that the Scriptures relate events which could 
not possibly have occurred in the manner in which they are 
narrated. This, he says, is especially the case both with 
those which give a too human character to God, and with 
those in which persons who are represented as enjoying the 
particular favour of God are said to have been guilty of wicked 



18 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

acts. " Quae nobis sedificatio erit," he observes, " legentibus 
Abraham tantum patriarcham non solum mentitum esse 
Abimelech regi, sed et pudicitiam conjugis prodidisse ? Quid 
nos sedificat tanti patriarchs uxor, si putatur contamina- 
tionibus exposita per conniventiam maritalem ? Hsec " (that 
is, that Sarah was exposed by her husband to impurity) 
" Judsei putant, et si qui cum eis, sunt literge amici, non spi- 
ritus." (Horn. 6 in Gen. iii.) He uses the same language 
with respect to the New Testament. He says (Contra Cel- 
sum, I. 42) : — 

" In almost every history, however true it may be, it is 
difficult, and sometimes impossible, to demonstrate the reality 
of it. Let us suppose, in fact, that some one should take 
upon himself to deny that there was a Trojan war on account 
of the improbabilities which are connected with that history, 
such as the birth of Achilles from a sea-goddess, &c. How 
could we prove the reality of it, overwhelmed as we should 
be by the evident inventions which in some unknown manner 
have been mixed up with the generally admitted idea of a 
war between the Greeks and Trojans ? What alone is prac- 
ticable is that he who wishes to study history with judgment, 
and to remove illusions from it, must consider how much of 
that history he can believe without more complete informa- 
tion ; how much, on the contrary, he must only understand 
symbolically {riva hs TrpoTroXoyrjaai), bearing in mind the 
intention of the narrator, and how much he must mistrust 
altogether, as being merely dictated by the desire of pleasing. It 
has been my wish to put forward these remarks as preliminary 
to the subject of the entire history of Jesus as given in the 
gospels, not with the view of leading clear-sighted people 
to a blind and unauthorised belief, but of showing that this 
history requires to be studied with judgment, and examined 
with care, and that we must, so to speak, bury ourselves in 
the meaning of the writer, in order to discover for what pur- 
pose each separate thing has been written." 

In another passage (De principp. IV. 16) he says that, 
generally speaking, the New Testament is the work of the 
same spirit as that which dictated the Old, which spirit has 
acted in the one in the same way as it has in the other ; 
that is to say, that it has incorporated with things which 
have actually happened other things which have not hap- 
pened, in order to bring us back to the spiritual meaning : 



FABULOUS NATURE OF ANCIENT THEOLOGY. 19 

Ov (jlovov &s irspl rwv irpo rrjs irapovaias ravra to irvsvfia 
ookovo/jltjosv, a\X\ drs to cluto Tvyyavov teal cltto evo9 6sov, to 
ofioiov teal sirl Tcov svayysXlcov ttsttoItjks, teal sirl twv diroaToXcov, 
ovhs tovtoov ttolvtv a/cparov Tr\v laroplav twv irpoav^aaixsvcov Kara 
10 o-cDfiaTLKov hyovrwv, fir/ ysysvtf/uusvov. 

The Fathers seem to have held much the same opinion as 
Strabo, who says, " It is not possible for a philosopher to 
lead by reasoning* a multitude of women, and of the low 
vulgar, and thus incite them to piety, holiness, and faith ; 
but the philosopher must also make use of superstition, and 
not omit the invention of fables, and the performance of 
miracles. For the lightning, and the segis, and the trident, 
and the thyroleuchal arms of the gods, are but fables, and 
so is all ancient theology. But the founders of states adopted 
them as bugbears to frighten the weak-minded." 

All ancient legislators, when they wished to give a divine 
sanction to their laws, pretended that a theophany had taken 
place. Bacchus in Euripides (Bacch.) answers Pentheus, 
who asks him whence he derived his new worship, that he 
has derived them from Bacchus the son of Jupiter, who has 
ordered him to propagate them (Pentheus not having recog- 
nised him) ; that Jupiter has manifested himself to him, 
and has dictated the laws of this religious institution to him 
himself. •Ehadamanthus (Strabo, 1. X., Diod., 1. Y. c. 75) 
says that he received the laws which he gave to Crete from 
Jupiter. Minos shut himself up in a cave in order to com- 
pose his code of laws, which he also said he had from heaven. 
Zoroaster (Hyde, de Yet. Pers. rel., p. 317) did the same 
when he wished to establish the Magian doctrines, and said 
that the Zend-Avesta came down from heaven. Josephus 
(Adv. Apion, 1. II. § 17) says of Moses, "When he had 
first persuaded himself that his actions and designs were 
favourable to God's will, he thought it his duty to impress 
above all things that notion on the multitude. He was no 
impostor, no deceiver, as his revilers say, but such a one as 
they brag Minos to have been among the Greeks, and other legis- 
lators after him, for some of them suppose that they had 
their laws from Jupiter, while Minos said that the revelation 
of his laws was to be referred to Apollo, and to his oracle at 
Delphi, whether they really thought that they were so deceived, 
or supposed, however, that they could persuade the people easily 
that so it was," 

c 2 



20 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Varro says that " there are many truths which it is useless 
for the vulgar to know, and many falsehoods which it is not 
fit the people should know to be falsehoods." Christian 
bishops have spoken with equal plainness. Bishop Synesius 
(a.d. 400) writes, " The people will be deceived ; you .cannot 
manage them otherwise. The old Egyptian priests always 
acted on those principles, hence they shut themselves up in 
their temples when they carried on their mysteries. If the 
people had been initiated in them they would have felt 
indignant at the deception. I, for my part, shall always 
be a philosopher in my private capacity, but a priest before 
the people." Gregory of Nazianzen writes to Jerome, "A 
flow of words is alone requisite for making an impression 
on the people. The less they understand the more they 
admire. Our fathers and teachers have not always said what 
they thought, but what the occasion required." The Thera- 
peutan monks expounded their scriptures allegorically, and 
in the Epistle to the Galatians the same method of expound- 
ing the most simple and obvious apparent facts of the Old 
Testament is adopted. Thus, the two sons of Abraham are 
to be understood as two covenants ; his mistress Agar is a 
mountain in Arabia, and the mountain in Arabia is Jerusa- 
lem. This principle was carried to such an extent by the 
Fathers that they did not hesitate to admit that the gospels 
could not be defended as true according to the literal text. 
Origen (Horn. 7 in Is., fol. 106, d) says " There are things 
contained therein, which, taken in their literal sense, are 
mere falsities and lies." St. Gregory (Comment, on 2 Kings, 
c. vii.) asserts of the whole Divine letter that " it is not only 
dead, but deadly," and Athanasius (Qusest. ad Antiochum, 
vol. II. p. 357 d) admonishes his readers that " should we 
understand Sacred Writ according to the letter, we should 
fall into the most enormous blasphemies." 

Even the oldest ecclesiastical writers can give us nothing 
but vague traditions respecting the origin of the canonical 
gospels. Mosheim says : " The opinions, or rather the con- 
jectures, of the learned concerning the time when the books 
of the New Testament were collected into one volume, as 
also about the authors of that collection, are extremely dif- 
ferent. . . . This important question is attended with great 
labours and almost insuperable difficulties to us in these 
later rimes." This question is further complicated by the 



THE PAULINE TEACHING. 21 

admission of Bishop Marsh (Michaelis's " Introduction to the 
New Testament/' by Bishop Marsh, vol. II. p. 365), that 
" it is a certain fact that several readings in our common 
printed text are nothing but alterations made by Origen, 
whose authority was so great in the Christian Church that 
emendations which he proposed, though, as he himself ac- 
knowledges, they were supported by the evidence of no 
manuscripts, were very generally received." Words, phrases, 
and sometimes whole verses, have also been taken from one 
gospel and put into another, as has been done with Matt. 
xxiii. 14 ; Mark, vi. 14 ; Luke, i. 28, iv. 4, ix. 56, xi. 2, 14, 
15, &c. (Conf. Tischendorf, Nov. Test. Greece, vol. VII. ad 
hos locos, et prolegom. p. 399 sqq.). Texts which favoured 
the opinions of heretics have also been changed (Conf. Volk- 
mar, Das Evang. Marcions, Hilgenfeld, Theol. Jakrbuch, 
vol. XII. (1853) p. 215 sqq.). Others have been inserted in 
support of some special dogma, of which the well-known 
text, 1 John, v. 7, 8, which was formerly relied upon to 
establish the doctrine of the Trinity, is an example. The 
original text, as it stands in the Codex Sinaiticus, is, " For 
there are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, 
and the blood, and these three agree in one." This is also 
the text in the Alexandrian, Vatican, and other codices, and 
the whole of the passage respecting the Father, the "Word, 
and the Holy Ghost, is a later insertion. 

The Epistle to the Galatians is the oldest of the canonical 
writings, but before it was written there was in existence a 
body of other writings of which we know nothing but by 
name. Some of the titles of these works, such as " The 
Mystery," " The Living Gospel," &c, occur in the Epistles. 
All the communities addressed in the Epistles are spoken of 
as being already Christians. In Gal. i. 8, the author of that 
epistle sx3eaks of a gospel which " we have preached," and 
desires that if an angel from heaven should preach any other 
gospel he may be cursed. It is evident, however, from the 
epistle itself that this gospel was not only not the same in 
substance, but that it did not in the least resemble any of 
our gospels. Any resemblance must in fact have been out 
of the question, for St. Justin tells us that party feeling ran 
so high that many who followed the Pauline teaching thought 
it their duty to avoid even associating with the Jewish 
Christians. Justin says that he himself is not so intolerant. 



22 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

provided that his Judaizing brethren do not endeavour to 
make proselytes of and excommunicate those of more liberal 
opinions, and he concludes by saying that in his opinion 
both parties will be saved (Dial, cum Tryph. n. 45). Not- 
withstanding this, however, he abstains from quoting from 
the Pauline writings, and even from mentioning the name 
of Paul, and he attributes the conversion of the Gentiles not 
to Paul, but to the Apostles (Apol. prima, c. 39). He also 
says (Dial, cum Tryph. c. 35), that he will not be in com- 
munion with those who eat meals sacrificed to idols (sl8co\6- 
6vra), and say that they have received no injury from them 
(teal fjurjhsv ire tovtov ^XdirrsaOaL \sysiv), thus condemning the 
teaching of the Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. viii. 8-10, 
x. 23 and sqq.). Papias does not speak of Paul as having 
any authority in the Church, or as one whose words were 
worth remembering, and the Ebionites, or Judseo-Christians, 
rejected all his writings, and held him to be an apostate 
from the law, the father of all heresies, and the chief enemy 
of the faith. 

The curse in the Galatians, therefore, lights upon writings 
that have not come down to us. There is a quotation from 
one of them in Acts xx. 35, " Remember the words of the 
Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more difficult to give than to 
receive." These words are not in any of the gospels, and the 
quotation is important as showing that the author of the 
Acts recognised other writings than those which we possess 
as canonical. The Epistle of Jude also refers to a book 
which is now lost, the " Assumption of Moses," and quotes 
the book of Enoch as authentic and inspired. Tertullian 
(De cultu foem. I. 8) appeals to some Messianic texts which 
had been inserted in this book, and reproaches the Jews 
with rejecting it, for he says that it might have survived the 
Deluge, or have been re-written by Noah under the inspira- 
tion of the Holy Ghost ! 

St. Clement says that Christ, having been asked when his 
kingdom would come, answered, "It will only come when 
two and two make one, when the outside resembles the in- 
side, and when there is neither male nor female." Eabricius 
shows that Clement does not name the person who inter- 
rogated Christ, nor the gospel from which he took these 
words. Clemens Alexandrinus, however, mentions the 
gospel according to the Egyptians, and says that Christ's 



THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 23 

answer began : " When you snail trample under foot the 
dress of modesty, and when two shall be one," &c. There 
is another quotation in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyr- 
nseans (c. iii.) : u And when the Lord came to those who 
were round Peter, he said to them, Take hold of me, and 
touch me, and see that I am not an incorporeal demon. 
And straightway they touched him, and they believed, being 
convinced by his flesh, and by the Spirit." Eusebius (H. E. 
1. III.) admits that he does not know from what gospel this 
passage is quoted, but Jerome (In Catalog. Script. Eccl.) 
says it is taken from a gospel which he had recently trans- 
lated, and reproduces it, with the omission of the words 
after " and they believed." He quotes these latter words 
in his Proem in c. xviii. Isaiee, as taken from the Gospel to 
the Hebrews. 

The gospels which have been called Apocryphal since the 
Council of Nice, but which are quoted from by the Fathers 
with as much reverence as they quote from those which are 
now called canonical, have this remarkable feature about 
them, that they entirely ignore the latter, while the canonical 
gospels contain large portions of the apocryphal, though 
frequently in an altered and distorted form. These gospels 
are full of fabulous wonders, but they contain a narrative 
which, however incredible, is at least free from the contra- 
dictions which the canonical gospels are full of. The sim- 
plicity and artlessness of these compositions is strongly in 
favour of their antiquity. The Fathers certainly did not 
consider these gospels and other writings as apocryphal. 
Justin makes use of one or several uncanonical gospels 
under the name of " Memorials of the Apostles " (Hitzenfeld, 
Die Evang. Justins ; Yolkmar, Ueber Justin der Martyrer, 
p. 12 sqq. ; Zeller, Theol. Jahrbuch, 1857, p. 138 sqq.). He 
also refers to the Acts of Pontius Pilate as containing an 
account of the miracles of Jesus. Eusebius (H. E. IY. 22) 
says that Hegesippus, in the middle of the second century, 
made use of the Gospel to the Hebrews, and the Epistle of 
Ignatius to the Smyrnseans is also quoted by Clemens Alex- 
andrinus and Origen. Clemens Alexandrinus considers the 
preaching of Peter to be the authentic production of that 
apostle. The Apocalypse of Peter is considered in the Com- 
mentaries of Clemens Alexandrinus to be as authentic as the 
Catholic Epistles. It was read publicly at Rome towards 



24 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

the close of the second century, and in the time of Sozo- 
menes certain churches in Palestine still held it to be 
canonical. Irenseus, who was the disciple of Papias, con- 
siders the Shepherd of Hernias to be a sacred book, and 
Origen (Comment, in Epist. ad- Rom. 1. X. n. 31) says that 
it is a divinely inspired writing. Origen, Jerome, and others 
consider the Recognitions to be an authentic work by 
Clemens Eomanus, and Epiphanius only quotes from the 
Apostolic Constitutions by the words " The Apostle said," 
or " The Divine Word said." 

The first in date of these gospels which have come down 
to us is that of the Birth of Mary, which is contained in 
the works of St. Jerome. Epiphanius and Augustine also 
mention this gospel, which several Christian Churches re- 
ceived as genuine and authentic. A gospel very much 
resembling this was attributed to St. Matthew, and was also 
received as genuine by several of the Christian Churches. 
The second is the Protevangelion, which is attributed to James 
the Lesser, and which contains the greater portion of the 
preceding gospel. It is frequently alluded to by the Fathers 
in a way which shows that it was very generally accepted. 
It is supposed to have been originally composed in Hebrew. 
Postellus, who brought the text of this gospel from the 
Levant, says that it was publicly read as canonical in the 
Eastern Churches. Joseph is represented in it as being a 
widower with children before his marriage with Mary. This 
belief was held by all the Latin Fathers till the time of 
Ambrose, and by the Greek Fathers afterwards. 

The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ was re- 
ceived by Eusebius, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, 
&c, who accredit several of its relations. Peter Martyr, who 
was bishop of Alexandria in the third century, says that the 
place in Egypt to which Jesus was banished is now called 
Matarea, about ten miles beyond Cairo. This gospel says 
that when Joseph and his family drew near a great city in 
Egypt the idol fell down, and all the inhabitants of Egypt, 
besides others, ran together. Eusebius (Demon. Evang. 
1. YI. c. 20) and Athanasius (De Incarnat. Verbi) also tell 
this story. They say that when Joseph and Mary arrived in 
Egypt they went to dwell in a city of the Thebais, in which 
there was a superb temple of Serapis, and that on their 
going into the temple with Jesus all the statues fell flat on 



THE JUD.EO-CHRISTIAN GOSPELS. 25 

their faces. Mathura, which Ptolemy calls Matura Deorum, 
is where the Indian Christna was born. His statue, which is 
in the temple, is black, like the Bambino at Loretto and 
Rome, and the temple, which is bnilt in the form of a cross, 
stands due east and west. Matarea in the Eastern languages 
signifies the sun, and it is mentioned in Isa. xxx. 4, where it 
is called DDH hns, or Hanes, and in the LXX. Heliopolis. 
Ahmed Tbn Idris, a Mahomedan divine, says that this gospel 
was used by some Christians in common with the canonical 
gospels, and Fabricius thinks that it is identical with a 
Gospel of Thomas, which Orobius de Castro says was read in 
a very great number of churches in Asia and Africa as the 
only rule of their faith. The Nestorians in India used it as 
late as a.d. 1599, when it was condemned by a synod at 
Angamala, in the mountains of Malabar. The Second Gospel 
of the Infancy, which is a fragment, was attributed to St. 
Thomas, and is supposed to have been originally connected 
with the Gospel of the Birth of Mary. 

The Acts of Pontius Pilate, which are now called the 
Gospel of Nicodemus, are of very great antiquity, and are 
appealed to by several of the early Christians. They were 
in use in some churches as late as the latter end of the third 
century, and were recognised as authentic by Justin, as we 
have seen, though Eusebius charges the Pagans with having 
forged a book called the Acts of Pilate, which the Rev. 
Jeremiah Jones shows there is internal evidence to prove 
cannot have been the case. 

Besides what are usually known as the Apocryphal Gospels, 
others were in existence long before the canonical Gospels 
assumed their present form. They are first mentioned in 
the Talmud by certain doctors who wrote between a.d. 100 
and a.d. 130. The Hebrew names given to them are )\DvV:d 
or pVmx and ]^vr\ ^£nr) (Tosifta Sabbat, c. 14, Jerus. 
Sabbat, c. 16, Babl. Sabbat, 116 a ). These Minyan (Judeeo- 
Christian) Gospels seem to have been drawn up in Aramaic, 
the popular dialect of the Jews in Palestine, which had 
replaced the ancient Hebrew language at that time, and to 
have been full of quotations from the Old Testament, for 
Rabbi Joses of Galilee was of opinion that these writings 
ought to be burnt after cutting out of them the names of 
God which they contained, while Rabbi Tarphu thought 
that they ought to be burnt, names and all. 



26 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

The first allusion by any ecclesiastical writer to the exist- 
ence of any gospels is contained in a fragment of a lost 
writing by Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, which was written 
about the middle of the second century. Papias, however, 
distinctly states that he only derived his information from 
the verbal statements of men who had been acquainted with 
certain presbyters and contemporaries of the apostles, who 
had communicated to him what some of the apostles or other 
disciples of the Lord had said (ehrsv). He has gone beyond 
the testimony of these presbyters to what Aristin and John 
the Presbyter said (Xsyovaiv) in his time. He speaks of them, 
however, with some contempt, and says that he was not 
satisfied with their prolix commentaries, and that he found 
what he had taken from their books less useful than what 
he had learned by conversation. Eusebius calls him an 
exceedingly little-minded person (atyo&pa /ntKpbs top vovv) be- 
cause he taught that Christ would reign for a thousand 
years on earth, a doctrine which was preached and universally 
believed in his time, but had been given up in the time of 
Eusebius. He was certainly extremely credulous, to say the 
least of it, for he relates, among other marvels, that a dead 
man was raised to life where he was, and that a man named 
Justus, whose surname was Barsabas, drank a rank poison, 
and by the grace of God suffered no harm. This he says 
was the same Justus who was set up with Matthias to be 
elected by lot in the place of Judas Iscariot. In another 
place he says, " To some of them [the angels] he gave to 
rule over the administration of the earth, and he enjoined 
them to rule it well." Afterwards he says, " But it happened 
that this appointment came to nothing." 

Ireneeus (Adv. Hier. Y. 33, 4) speaks of Papias as of one 
who had " heard John," but Eusebius doubts, with reason, 
whether the Apostle John can be meant in this passage, 
considering that no mention whatever is made of him in the 
prooemium of Papias, but that he states that he did not derive 
his narrative directly from the Apostles. Irenseus, however, 
gives the following specimen of what he alleges Papias to 
have heard from the Apostle St. John himself : — 

" The Lord taught and said that the days shall come in 
which vines shall spring up, each having ten thousand 
branches, and in each branch shall be ten thousand arms, 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS. 2 7 

and in each arm of a branch ten thousand tendrils, and on 
each tendril ten thousand bunches, and on each bunch ten 
thousand grapes, and each grape on being pressed shall 
yield five and twenty gallons of wine, and when any one of 
the saints shall take hold of one of these bunches, another 
shall cry out ' I am a better bunch, take me, and bless the 
Lord by me.' " This multiplication by ten thousand is ex- 
tended to grains of wheat, apples, flowers, and animals, and 
concludes by a saying of Jesus, " And these things are 
believable by all believers ; but Judas the traitor not believ- 
ing, asked him, 6 But how shall things that propagate thus 
be brought to an end by the Lord ? ' And the Lord answered 
him and said, ' Those who shall live in these times shall 
see.' " 

If Papias really wrote this his inventive powers must be 
on a par with his credulity, and his statements must be 
received with caution. 

The fragment preserved byEusebius is as follows : — 'Mardalos 
/jlsv ovv e ]iLl3pat$L 8ia\s/cT(p rd \6yia avvsypdyjraTO, rjp/jLi'jvsvas Ss 
avid ays r\v hvva-rbs sKaaros. " Matthew put together the 
logia in the Hebrew dialect, and every one translated them 
as best he could." These Xoyia must, according to the mean- 
ing of the word in Acts viii. 31, Rom. iii. 2, Heb. v. 12, and 
1 Pet. iv. 11, have been only a collection of sayings which 
were held to be oracular utterances, or " words of God." 
The Gospel used by Papias was the Gospel according to the 
Hebrews, which was also used by Hegesippus, and which is 
the most ancient gospel we have. Papias gives a story 
which Eusebius found in c. xix. 3, of that gospel, Tvvr) tls 
hrl TroWat? d/jLapriats SisfiXijOri cltto rov Kvpiov. Eusebius 
(H. E. ni. 25, 27, IY. 22) explicitly separates the /cad 3 
'Eftpaiovs svayysXtov from the \6yia written in Aramaic which 
Papias speaks of. In the same work Papias speaks of a 
writing ascribed to Mark, which is distinguished from that 
of Matthew by its containing not only the sayings, but the 
acts, of Jesus. Matthew, he says, avvzypd-^raro rd \6yia, and 
Mark wrote rd vito rov Xpiarovf) Xs^OsvTa rj irpayQwra. The 
work attributed to Matthew therefore contained no acts, 
but only the sayings of Jesus. These Xoyca, he says, were 
written in Hebrew, that is, in the Aramaic dialect. It seems 
probable that these \6yta were contained in certain divisions, 



28 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

probably five in number. At any rate Papias drew rip his 
'Ei^syrjasis or explanation of these \6yta in five ovyypdfifjbara, 
perhaps in order to correspond with the Pentateuchal type. 

It is evident from what has been said that the canonical 
gospel of Matthew can only be in part a translation of these 
Aramaic \oyia. All that can be ascertained is that, accord- 
ing to Papias, there was in existence before the middle of the 
second century a tradition which came from the 7rapa/co\ov6rj- 
kotss rols TTpsafivripois, the followers of the Presbyters, as 
the fragment states, and which therefore was at third hand 
from the apostles or disciples of Jesus, and also that Matthew 
had compiled a collection of the sayings of Jesus (which will 
be examined in a subsequent chapter) in Aramaic, but as he 
says that these \6yia were also written by one of the contem- 
poraries of Jesus, it is impossible to distinguish one from 
the other. 

A five-fold series of discourses is still to be observed in 
the first gospel, and maybe recognised by the formula, "And 
it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings," which 
occurs five times. We find, however, even in these discourses 
an admixture of later Christian ideas in c. vii. 22, 23, and c. x. 
38, 40, and the quotations from the Old Testament attributed 
to Jesus in these discourses are almost always in the words of 
the Septuagint version, which it is not possible that he, as an. 
orthodox Jew, can have made use of, especially as it often 
differs materially from the Hebrew text. Matthew xiii. 14, 
is incorrectly quoted from Isa. vi. 9, &c. One of the 
Fathers attributed the authorship of this gospel to James, 
while others said that John was the author of it. 

The statement of John the Presbyter respecting Mark's 
Gospel is as follows, according to Papias : — 

" Mark, as the intimate friend and interpreter of Peter, 
described what Christ said and did as far as his memory 
served him. He did not do this, however, according to the 
succession of the occurrences, because he had not heard the 
Lord himself, neither had he heard anything from those who 
accompanied him, but he was, as I have said, an interpreter 
(spfjLrjvsvrrjs) of Peter, who accommodated his teaching to 
the exigencies of the moment, and did not, therefore, like 
Matthew, aim at giving a systematic account of the sayings 
of the Lord. But Mark omitted nothing, for he wrote down 
one thing and another (hia) as he remembered them, and he 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK. 29 

took care respecting tliem not to forget any of the things 
that he had heard, and not to narrate anything that was not 
true " (Euseb. H. E., III. 39). 

If this account is held to apply to the canonical gospel of 
Mark (which ends, as will be shown presently, with c. xvi. 8), 
we have no authority in the gospel of Mark, the interpreter 
of Peter, for the miraculous birth, nor for the resurrection 
and ascension of Christ. It is also remarkable that he 
should omit Christ's promise of the keys to Peter and the 
story about paying the tribute out of the fish's mouth, 
although Peter is put forward on several occasions (c. i. 36, 
xiii. 3, xxi. 7) when he is not mentioned by the other Evan- 
gelists. It is, however, impossible that this statement can 
apply to the canonical gospel, for not only is the latter, even 
in its earliest form, and without the additions which have 
been made to it from time to time, full of mythical narratives, 
but Papias states further on that Mark wrote ov fisv ra> rd^sc, 
"not in order," and this expression cannot apply to the 
most chronologically arranged of the gospels. We must 
suppose, therefore, that the Presbyter had in view a totally 
different writing. 

The Fathers can tell us nothing respecting the gradual 
growth of the canonical gospels. Justin, who quotes several 
passages which occur in Matthew, and one which occurs in 
Mark, nowhere speaks of either Matthew or Mark as the 
author of the Memorials (aTrofivrj/noveVfiaTa) from which he 
took several occurrences in the life of Jesus. He only says 
that they proceeded " from the apostles and their disciples." 
All that can be said with certainty is that Justin was ac- 
quainted with texts which are only found in one of the 
synoptical gospels, but the words which he says were uttered 
by the voice from heaven at the baptism of Jesus differ from 
those in the canonical gospels. It is certain, moreover, 
that the sources from which he took those texts had no 
authors' names to them, and that he does not ascribe the 
writings he made use of to the Evangelists as usually recog- 
nised. 

Faustus, the learned Manichsean bishop, pressed Augus- 
tine with a challenge which he was unable to answer. He 
says, " It is certain that the New Testament was not written 
by Christ himself, nor by his apostles, but a long while after 
them, by some unknown persons, who, lest they should not 



30 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

be credited when they wrote of affairs they were little ac- 
quainted with, affixed to their writings the name of apostles, 
or of such as were supposed to be their companions, assert- 
ing that what they had written themselves was written 
according to (secundum) those persons to whom they ascribed 
it." It is remarkable in connection with this statement that 
Eusebius says that the Marcus mentioned in 1 Peter v. 13 is 
Mark the Evangelist. This epistle pretends to be written at 
Babylon — " The Church at Babylon .... saluteth you " 
[Cod. Sin.], where there is not the slightest reason to suppose 
that Peter ever went ; besides which, Dr. Coplestone doubts, 
with reason, whether Peter knew enough Greek to write 
his epistle. In c. iv. 3 the author says, that in the former 
part of his life he had been a lascivious, lustful, drunken, 
riotous, and abominably idolatrous Gentile ! In c. ii. 12 it is 
said that the Christians were accused of being evil doers, 
which we know from Pliny's testimony was not the case in 
the beginning of the second century, and this seems to prove 
that this epistle must have been composed at a later date 
than even that period. 

In Mark vii. 31 there is an indication of the period when 
that gospel was compiled. It is there said that Jesus came 
unto the sea of Galilee " through the midst of the shores of 
Decapolis." And this name has been inserted into Mat- 
thew's gospel (c. iv. 25) merely in order to make it be be- 
lieved that the fame of Jesus had spread far and wide. 
Luke, whose description is confirmed both by Josephus and 
Tacitus, tells us that in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and 
during his whole reign, the Jewish territory was divided by 
the Romans into four tetrarchies ; and Josephus never men- 
tions the name of Decapolis before Vespasian was governor 
of Syria, and general against the rebellious Jews, in the 
latter end of Nero's reign. Again, Pliny tells us (Nat. Hist. 
1. Y. c. 10) that the territory which intervenes between these 
two cities, and which surrounded each of them, was not 
subject to the same government as the cities themselves, but 
to the adjoining territories. The Romans had probably been 
induced to annex the Jewish cities to the Government of Syria 
in consequence of the insurrection of the Jewish against 
the Syrian inhabitants of some of those cities. It is evident, 
therefore, that the Decapolis was not any distinct country or 
continued district, but merely the general appellation of ten 



bishop .marsh's hypothesis. 31 

detached, insulated cities, lying all, except Scythopolis, east 
of the Jordan. Yet Mark and Matthew speak of it as if it 
were a province, like Galilee or Trachonitis, and as if it were 
situated north-west of the Sea of Galilee. This gross ignor- 
ance of geography shows that the writer cannot have been 
a native of Palestine, and the insertion of the name renders 
it probable that both gospels were compiled after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, as the third certainly was (Luke xix. 
41, 43, 44; xxi. 9, 20 ; xxiii. 29). The verse in the Codex 
Sinaiticus is, "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre., 
he came through Sidon unto the Sea of Galilee." 

In order to escape from the difficulties which arise from 
the errors and contradictions in the gospels, the hypothesis 
of a common Hebrew document has been resorted to. Bishop 
Marsh, however, has demonstrated the impossibility of this, 
and has come to the conclusion that " St. Matthew, St. Mark, 
and St. Luke, all three used different copies of some common 
statement, which, before any of our canonical gospels existed, 
was known as the Gospel to the Hebrews, or the Gospel 
according to the Twelve Apostles, a gospel of which the 
ancients speak with great respect; or the Gospel according 
to the Nazarenes, or the Gospel according to Matthew." 
Beausobre is of the same opinion. He says, " At the head 
of the first class [of Scriptures] are to be placed two gospels 
[that according to the Hebrews and that according to the 
Egyptians] . In my opinion, the Gospel according to the 
Hebrews is the most ancient of all. The Nazarenes pretended 
that this was the original from which the Gospel of St. Mat- 
thew was taken. It began with these words, ' It happened 
in the days of Herod.' . . . That which has been called 
the Gospel according to the Egyptians is of the same anti- 
quity. Origen has mentioned it ; Clemens Alexandrinus had 
previously quoted it in several places; and if the Second 
Epistle of Clemens Eomanus be authentic, this gospel would 
have a testimony far more ancient than that of these two 
doctors. . . . Upon considering the unquestionable fact 
that it was received by the Christians of Egypt, I have not 
been able to hinder myself from thinking that it was written 
by the Essenes, who had believed in Jesus Christ. The 
religion of these people contained a great deal of the Chris- 
tian religion. The Gospel according to the Egyptians was 
full of mysticism, parables, enigmas, and allegories ; this has 



32 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

been attributed to the spirit of the nation. For my part I 
attribute it rather to the Essenean cast of character." This 
agrees with the statement of Eusebius, that our gospels and 
epistles were identical with those of the Therapeutse, or 
Essenes. The title of one of his chapters (1. I. c. 4) is "The 
religion published by Jesus Christ is neither new nor strange," 
and in 1. II. c. 17, he states, in the most unqualified terms, 
that " The ancient Therapeutse were Christians, and their 
ancient writings were our gospels and epistles." 

None of the Fathers speak of the earlier sources from 
which the first draft of the canonical gospels originated, and 
they nowhere show that they had any acquaintance with the 
Logia which Papias speaks of. There is nothing surprising 
in this, however, for the knowledge of Aramaic became lost 
in the Greek Church. Later and more perfect copies of the 
writings made, we may suppose, the older editions super- 
fluous, and they ultimately were lost or destroyed. The 
original Gospel of Mark, even after many additions had been 
made to the short biographical sketch which it contains, 
must, by reason of its brevity, have been considered inferior 
to the longer accounts of Matthew and Luke, as is evident 
from the comparative infrequency with which the text of 
this gospel is quoted. The ecclesiastical writers of epistles, 
from Justin downwards, confine themselves to the Gospel 
according to Matthew, owing to their peculiar theological 
views ; and in some manuscripts the original text of Mark 
has actually been altered, in order to make it agree with 
Matthew or Luke. 

The original sources of portions of Mark's Gospel are of 
great antiquity, as is evident from the names of places in it 
which afterwards fell into disuse, such as Dalmanutha (c. viii. 
10), which afterwards became Magadan (Cod. Sin.), or Mag- 
dala (Matt. xv. 39), and Bethphage (Mark xi. 1), a reading 
which has been preserved in Matt. xxi. i., where, however, it 
is altered into Bethphage and Bethany. 

The first edition of this original gospel is of later origin, 
and indicated a period when mythical narratives were intro- 
duced into the text. The account of the resurrection of 
Jesus points to a period when the older spiritual conception 
had become developed into a material fact. It belongs to 
a later date than the Pauline epistles, for a Christian univer- 
salism, in the Pauline sense, pervades it, with which the 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE. 33 

universality of the symbolism (Mark, v. 4 and sqq., vii. 24 
and sqq., and elsewhere) is connected, and an unfavourable 
view of the twelve Apostles is also taken in it. From the 
junction of this first edition of Mark's Gospel with the Logia, 
or with portions of them, there arose a writing, the second 
edition of Matthew, part of which appears in Luke's Gospel, 
though it does not comprise the narrative of the birth of 
Jesus, or other legends, which Luke leaves unnoticed. The 
numerous glosses and alterations which the compiler of the 
second Matthew allowed himself to make show that dogmatic 
teaching was already greatly on the increase. 

The canonical edition of Matthew's Gospel must have been 
unknown to the author of St. Luke's Gospel, for the narrative 
of the birth of Christ, the genealogy, and the account of the 
death of Judas Iscariot are against the probability of his 
having read the statements in Matt. i. and ii. and xxviii. 
3-10. This last edition of the first gospel appears, in fact, to 
refer to Luke, and to have been drawn up at a later period. 
It is pervaded by a strong Judseo-Christian feeling, and this, 
together with the absence of any explanatory information 
respecting Palestine, has been thought to show that the 
author was a Palestinian Christian. It is difficult, however, 
to reconcile this with the extraordinary mistake in Matt, 
xiii. 35, in which a quotation from Ps. lxxviii. 2 was attri- 
buted to Esaias the prophet, as it still is in the Codex Sinai- 
ticus. Jerome admits that Porphyry had accused the 
Evangelist of this mis-quotation, and merely says that the 
name of Isaiah had long been removed from that passage, in 
which, however, it is still attributed to "the prophet." The 
canonical Matthew continued to be of authority among the 
mediaeval Jewish Christians, while the Pauline Christians, 
such as Marcion and others, adhered to Luke's Gospel, so 
that both these gospels gradually attained to an equal degree 
of consideration by the fusion of parties which was continu- 
ally going on in the Church. 

The second edition of Mark comes next to the canonical 
edition of Matthew. In the short preface to the gospel the 
editor speaks of gospels in which a narrative of the birth of 
Christ had been inserted. This edition was written for 
Gentile Christians, as is clearly shown by the nature of its 
glosses and alterations. It appears to have been written at 
Rome from certain passages, such as c. x. 12, and xv. 21, in 

D 



34 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

which latter passage Alexander and Eufus are probably 
Romans, whom the editor was acquainted with (Conf. 
Romans xvi. 12). 

The conclusion of Mark's Gospel (c. xvi. 9-20) is one of 
the late additions to the Evangelical literature. The genuine 
conclusion has been lost, for Gregory of Nyssa (a.d. 371) 
says that in the most exact copies this gospel concludes with 
c. xvi. 8. Some copies, however, have the following conclu- 
sion : " And they told briefly all the things which they were 
commanded to Peter and those with him, and after that 
Jesus himself sent forth, through them, from the east to the 
west, the holy and incorruptible word of eternal salvation." 
The present conclusion is a compilation from Luke, John, 
the Acts of the Apostles, and later traditions, and shows 
itself to be the work of another hand by a style and a mean- 
ing attached to words, which differs from the other portions 
of Mark. The copyists of the oldest and best known MSS. 
did not find this portion of Mark in the MSS. they used. 
It is wanting, for instance, both in the Codex Sinaiticus and 
in the Vatican Codex, and it is clear from other versions, 
and from the testimony of several scholiasts, that it was also 
deficient in other MSS. This is confirmed by Eusebius 
(Qusest. 1 and 3 ad Marin, in Script, vet. coll., ed. Aug. 
Maji, p. 61, 72), by Jerome (Epist. ad Hebid. J. qn. 3), who 
both distinctly state that almost all the copies that could be 
depended upon in their time ended with v. 8, and by Gregory 
of Nyssa (Orat. 2 de resurr. Christi). The present con- 
clusion was in existence before the end of the second century, 
for Justin (Apol. i. 45) and Irenaeus (Cont. Hser. iii. x. 6) 
were acquainted with it, as was also Hippolytus and the 
author of the Apostolic Constitutions. 

Justin Martyr mentions the visit of the angel Gabriel to 
the Virgin in the words of Luke i. 35-38, and the agony of 
Christ in the words of Luke xxii. 42, but does not mention 
Luke by name. Luke's Gospel is not alluded to in either 
the Acts or the Epistles, and it is not till a.d. 1 78 that Luke 
is mentioned by Irenseus as the author of it. The author 
has been supposed to be a Palestinian Christian, but in face 
of the gross blunder in c. iii. 2, where the Jews are made to 
have two high priests, and in c. xiii. 1, respecting the Gali- 
lseans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, 
which is a pure invention, it is difficult to believe that the 



EXAMINATION OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL. 35 

author had ever been in Palestine. If the Acts of the Apostles 
are by the same author, as Jerome (De viris illustr. e. 7) 
asserts they were, they contain a speech attributed to Gama- 
liel (c. v. 35 and sqq.) which he could not possibly have 
uttered, for no doctor of the law could have said in a.d. 34 
or 37 that Theudas rose up before his days ; for Josephus 
(Ant. xx. c. 5) says that Theudas rose up in the procurator- 
ship of Cuspius Tactus, that is, not before a.d. 44. Luke 
says that, " after this man " Judas of Galilee arose; but the 
attempt at insurrection by Judas of Galilee took place in 
a.d. 6 or 7, and the author of the Acts is thus nearly forty 
years wrong. 

Interpolations were made in Luke's Gospel even after the 
second century, for it appears from Origen that several be- 
lievers in his time were offended with that part of the gospel 
which relates to the penitent thief, and declared that that 
passage was not in the older copies, but was a late addition 
of some of the interpreters CPaBiovpyol). Origen does not 
agree with them, but they are right ; for neither Justin, nor 
Irenseus, nor Tertulliau take notice of this remarkable occur- 
rence, though the latter has written a treatise upon the 
state of souls between death and the resurrection. 

It is evident that the fourth Gospel cannot have been 
written by the Apostle John, the son of Zebedee, and one of 
" the sons of thunder " (Mark iii. 17), an expression which 
denotes a fiery nature, which is the very opposite to that 
attributed to the Apostle iu this gospel. It is impossible 
also to suppose that an " ignorant and unlearned man," as he 
and Peter are described (Acts iv. 13) to be, who was the son 
of an obscure Galilsean fisherman, who could only speak his 
provincial dialect, and did not so much as understand 
Hebrew, still less any other language, should have written a 
gospel in indifferent Greek — a remark which applies to other 
books of the New Testament. In Gal. ii. 6, 9, Paul says 
distinctly that James, Cephas, and John " added nothing to 
him ;" that is, they could tell him nothing. It is said, more- 
over, in c. xxi. 24, " This is the disciple which testifieth of 
these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his 
testimony is true." Y. 25, " And then also many other things 
which Jesus did," &c, is not in the Codex Sinaiticus. The 
expression, " My Lord and my God " in c. xx. 28, shows that 
it cannot have been written by the Apostle John, because 

D 2 



36 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

the latter appellation was not addressed to Christ, either at 
that time or for many centuries afterwards. Theophilus of 
Antioch, writing about a.d. 180, says that John was the 
author of it, but its genuineness was contested even after 
his time by certain persons whom Epiphanius classes toge- 
ther as "AXoyot (Hier., 51. Conf. Iren. Adv. hser., iii. xi. 9). 
It was universally accepted by the Church until long after 
the Reformation, when the learned and Reverend Dr. Evan- 
son in England, and Eckermann, Vogel, Horst, Cludius, and 
Ballenstedt in Germany, denied its apostolic origin and its 
credibility. Dr. Evan son expresses his astonishment that 
gospels should be received as true which so flatly con- 
tradict each other. Bretschneider, in his Probabilia de 
Evangelii et Epistolarum Johannis indole et origine (1820), 
gave a severe blow to the orthodox views respecting this 
gospel. 

In c. ix. 7 there is a mistake which no Jewish writer 
could possibly have made, for Siloam does not signify " sent," 
but "the place of the sending forth of waters ;" that is, "the 
sluice," or, according to another interpretation, a fountain 
(rbw). "Sent" is nnbt^ in Hebrew. The commentators 
have endeavoured to get the words, " which is by interpre- 
tation sent," considered as a marginal note, but they are in 
all the codices, and are evidently part of the text itself. 
This miracle -is represented as a standing one, frequently 
repeated in the sheep-market, that is in one of the most 
public places in Jerusalem, yet no historian, Jewish or 
Roman, who has given an account of that city, has ever 
mentioned so extraordinary an occurrence. In c. vii. 53, 
there is even a greater blunder, for the chief priests and 
Pharisees are represented as saying, " Search and look, for 
out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," which they could not 
possibly have said, for Nahum and Jonah were both Gali- 
lseans. Another mistake in this gospel is that Bethsaida is 
placed in Galilee (c. xii. 21). Josephus and Pliny both say 
that it was in the district of Itursea, to which the name of 
Gaulonitis was given. If John were the author of this gospel 
he could not possibly have made such a mistake as this, for 
nearly the whole career of Jesus was passed in Galilee. In 
order to do away with this mistake the commentators have 
invented another Bethsaida on the western shore of Lake 
Gennesaret. But it is evident that the Bethsaida which was 



THE FOURTH GOSPEL CONTINUED. 37 

afterwards called Julias by Philip the tetrarch, and became 
his capital (Jos. Ant. xvii. 2, 1), is intended : for in Matt. iv. 
25, Decapolis is distinguished from the country "beyond 
Jordan," and the writer is evidently under the impression 
that it was on the western side of that river. 

In John i. 43 Jesus goes into Galilee on the second day 
after his baptism, and on the third day he is at Gana (ii. 1) ; 
but the synoptical gospels say that he was forty da;ys in the 
wilderness immediately after his baptism. Again, in c. xi. 
49, Caiaphas is represented as being the high priest that 
year, and as "prophesying" (v. 51) "that Jesus should die 
for that nation." No Jew could possibly be ignorant that 
the high priest's office was for life, and that prophesying was 
no part of his duty. The author of this gospel does not in 
fact pretend to be a Jew. He speaks of " the Jews " in c. i. 
19, ii. 18, v. 15, ix. 18, 22, &c. ; of " your law " in c. viii. 17, 
x. 34 ; of " their law " in c. xv. 26 ; of " the Jews' passover " 
in c. ii. 13; of " a feast of the Jews " in c. v. 1, vi. 4; of 
" the Jews' feast of tabernacles " in c. vii. 2, and of " the Jews' 
preparation day " in c. xix. 42, just as a writer would who 
was a stranger to the nation, to its religious observances, and 
to its customs. 

The chronology of this gospel is hopelessly irreconcilable 
with that of the others, for it makes the Passover at which 
Jesus was crucified to be the fourth from the commencement 
of his ministry. Another circumstance is remarkable. The 
Churches of Asia Minor all observed the fourteenth Nisan as 
the day on which the Last Supper took place, and said that 
they did this on the authority of John, who, they said, had 
set them an example which they wished to follow (see Euseb. 
H. E. v. 24), viz., that they should keep that day holy in 
commemoration of the day on which Jesus ate the Passover 
in conformity with the Jewish law. This gospel, however, 
ignores the Passover altogether, and distinctly places (c. xiii. 
1) the supper, Sslttvov, at which he was betrayed, before the 
feast of the Passover. As to the raising of Lazarus, not only 
is it not mentioned by any of the other Evangelists, although 
it is said to have taken place in Galilee, where the public life 
of Jesus was almost exclusively passed, according to them, 
but we are told that in consequence of it " many of the Jews 
believed on him," thus contradicting the Acts, which say- 
that all the disciples at his 'death were Galilseans, and that 



38 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

the whole number was only about one hundred and twenty, 
which, curiously enough, is the number which constituted 
the grand synagogue in the time of Esdras. 

In c. xxi. 1 1 Peter brings a net to land which contains 
153 great fishes. Jerome (Ad Ezek. c. 47) says that this is 
an allegory, for this is exactly the number of species of fish 
which exist, and therefore Peter is represented as catching 
all the faithful in the world ! In c. xii. 17, 18, there is an 
evident addition to the accounts in Mark and Matthew of 
the entry into Jerusalem, for it is said that the people met 
him because they had heard that he had raised Lazarus, 
while the other gospels are silent on this subject. 

The following are some other contradictions between this 
and the other gospels. According to the synoptical gospels 
Jesus does not commence his ministry until after John is put 
into prison (Mark i. 14, Matt. iv. 12, Luke iii. 20). He 
scarcely leaves Galilee at all, does not cross its southern 
border, and only goes to Jerusalem at the end of his career. 
In the fourth gospel, on the contrary, his ministry and his 
preaching begin long before John's imprisonment, and the 
scene of them is laid principally in Judsea. He first goes to 
the Passover a few days after the marriage at Cana (c. ii. 13) ; 
then he goes up to " the feast of the Jews " [Cod. Sin.] in 
c. v. 1 ; to " the feast of Tabernacles " (c. vii. 2, 10) ; and 
to " the feast of Dedication," which took place in winter 
(c. x. 22). He then goes into Persea, when John baptized 
(c. x. 40), and after visiting Bethany he retires to Ephraim, 
near the wilderness of Judsea (c. xi. 54), until he goes up to 
Jerusalem before the feast of the Passover (c. xii. 1, 12). 
According to this gospel, therefore, he had been present at 
two, if not at four, Passovers, as well as other festivals, pre- 
vious to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 

The synoptical gospels represent Jesus as selecting his 
disciples from among the fishermen on the sea of Galilee 
(Mark i. 16-20, and parallel passages). In the fourth gos- 
pel, on the contrary, Simon and Andrew, two of these very 
same disciples, are made to be disciples of John, follow Jesus 
of their own account (i. 35-37), and never quit him again 
(ii. 2, 11, 12, 17; iii. 22; iv. 2, 8, 27, &c). According to 
the synoptical gospels, again (Mark xi. 15, and parallel 
passages), Jesus cast out the buyers and sellers in the 
temple, after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In the 



DATE OF THE JfOUBTH GOSPEL. 39 

fourth gospel this takes place a few days after the com- 
mencement of his ministry (ii. 13). On this occasion Jesus 
is asked by the Jews what sign he would show, seeing that 
he did these things, and he answers, " Destroy this temple, 
and in three days I will build it up" (ii. 18, 19). In 
the synoptical gospels (Mark xii. 57, 58 ; Matt. xxvi. 60, 61), 
this same speech is put into the mouth of false witnesses ! 
In one gospel, therefore, we are told that Jesus uttered this 
speech, in the other we are told that he did not. In the 
fourth gospel (iv. 4-42) Jesus is represented as going through 
Samaria, stopping for two days at Sychar (a city unknown 
to geography), and making numerous pjoselytes there. Ac- 
cording to the synoj)tical gospels he has nothing to do with 
the Samaritans until he goes up to Jerusalem, and in Matt. 
x. 5 he forbids the apostles to enter into any Samaritan 
city. 

Some ten years before the time that Theophilus of Antioch 
attributes the authorship of this gospel to John, Apollinaris, 
Tatian, Athenagoras, the authors of the Epistles of the 
Churches of Lyons andYieuna, and of the Clementine Epistles, 
quote from this gospel, but without naming either the book 
or the author. The earlier writings which pass under the 
names of Barnabas, Clemens Romanus, and Hermas, do not 
mention it, and if they admit the doctrine of the Logos at 
all, it is only in a very elementary form. Marcion, the 
Gnostic, who would unquestionably have made use of it, if it 
had been known to him, was obliged to content himself with 
the third gospel, which he adopted after subjecting it to a 
complete revision. The texts quoted by Justin Martyr, 
which many writers have supposed to be taken from the 
fourth gospel, have, after much discussion, been reduced to 
seven, or, strictly speaking, to three, which, however, by no 
means necessarily belong to it ; and the only text which 
really resembles the text of this gospel occurs also in the 
Homilies and Recognitions of Clement, which were in 
existence when Justin wrote. In fact the Homilies, the 
Eecognitions, and Justin agree much better with each other 
than with "chis gospel ; and the text is evidently more accu- 
rate, for it si)eaks of man being born again, while in John 
iii. 3, Jesus is represented as saying, "Except a man be born 
from above," avaiOev (Conf. v. 31, where avcoOsv is correctly 
translated "from above"). The question also which is put 



40 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

into the mouth of Nicodemus, " How can a man be born 
again if he is old?" has nothing to do with the previous 
assertion of Jesus, that a man must be born from above. 
The date of this gospel may be nearly ascertained by the 
Gnostic terms used, such as Aoyos, Movoysvrjs, Zco7), <£<w? 9 
'AXyOeia, Xdpif, &c, all of which were used by the Gnostic 
writers to describe a regular series of symbolical personages, 
and which have been applied by the Evangelist to Christ. 
Gnosticism became a regular system somewhere about a.d. 
120, at which period, according to Hegesippus and Clemens 
Alexandrinus, the Church first became infected with it. The 
Yalentinian heresy, the terminology of which is so apparent 
in this gospel, broke out between a.d. 130 and 140. 

In the time of Justin the theory of the Logos, which was 
then in vogue at Alexandria, had begun to infect Christi- 
anity, and it was held by him as an essential element of his 
Christology, but the terms in which he speaks of it are 
essentially different from those used in the fourth gospel, 
and he never once quotes from that gospel in support of his 
favourite doctrine. On the contrary, although he was the 
first that taught that Christ was the second principle of the 
Deity, and the Creator of all things, he ascribes his know- 
ledge of that doctrine, not to the Scriptures, but to the special 
favour of God. He also says that Christ, when he appeared 
in public, put an end to the preaching and baptizing of John 
the Baptist, thus formally contradicting John iii. 20-24. In 
his Apology he speaks of brevity and conciseness as charac- 
teristic of the sayings of Jesus, which certainly cannot apply 
to the long discourses which are attributed to him in the 
fourth gospel, neither does he mention any of the miracles 
which are found exclusively in that gospel, not even the 
raising of Lazarus. 

While the synoptical gospels represent Christ as a man 
who, though in a spiritual sense the Son of God, yet did not 
contravene the Messianic notions prevalent among the Jews, 
in the fourth gospel he is God Himself, inferior indeed to the 
Father (c. vii. 35), but of the same substance (viii. 23, 58 ; 
x. 30, &c). The whole of this teaching may be found in 
Philo. He says that the Word was the same as God ; that 
he made all things ; that he was the Light of the World ; 
that he alone could see God ; that he was the first-begotten 
Son of God ; that he was the Son of the Father ; that he is 



THE DOGMA OF ORIGINAL SIN. 41 

anointed with oil (John i. 42, 6 XpiaTos) ; that he was made 
in the likeness of man ; that he is the Seal of God (John vi. 
27) ; that he surrounds and supports all things ; that he is 
the Holy Fountain, by drinking which everlasting life is 
obtained ; that man is raised up by the Logos to be 
near God in heaven (John vi. 34, 37 ; xii. 26) ; and that he 
is free from all transgressions. A prayer attributed to 
Thoth shows the Egyptian origin of the doctrine of the 
Logos. " I call upon thee, O Heaven, thou wise work of 
the Great God, to be propitious ; I call upon thee, Word of 
the Father, whom he gave utterance to in the beginning, 
when he established the Universe by his Will ; Word of the 
Father, which he first made heard, * his only begotten 
Word." 

The special importance which is attached to the life of 
Christ is the result of the dogma of Original Sin, and of the 
teaching founded on that dogma, that it is impossible to 
escape from the consequences of the state of enmity towards 
God in which man is supposed to be placed by the sin of 
Adam, except by faith in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ 
as an expiation for it. This dogma is founded on Bom. v. 
1 2 and other passages in that epistle, but it cannot be found 
in the gospels. It was this dogma, in fact, far more than 
the disputes respecting circumcision, which led to the an- 
tagonism which existed between the Jewish Christians and 
the followers of Paul. In a.d. 135, after the capture of 
Bethara in the reign of Adrian, when the final expulsion of 
the Jews from Palestine took place, the Jewish Christians 
came to terms with those who followed the teaching of Paul, 
who were principally congregated at Rome. The quarrel 
between them was of no ordinary description, as may be 
inferred from the Clementine Homilies (17-19), where Peter 
is represented as saying to Paul: "How can Jesus have 
appeared to thee, who believest the very opposite of what he 
taught ? " 

The Epistle to the Romans, however, is not written by 
Paul. It cannot be supposed that an epistle should be ad- 
dressed to them in a language of which they were ignorant, 
and the subscription in our copies, which states that it was 
written from Corinth, does not exist in the Codex Sinaiticus, 
in which it is simply "To the Romans." In c. i. 13-15, 
Paul is represented as writing to the brethren at Rome that he 



42 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

had oftentimes purposed to come unto them ; and in c. xv. 
25, &c, it is said that the time of Paul's writing this epistle 
was when he was going to Jerusalem with the contributions 
for the poor Christians of that city — that is, in the reign of 
Claudius ; and says that when he had performed that office 
he will come by way of Rome into Spain. The Acts, how- 
ever, show that Paul never had the least idea of travelling 
to Spain. Aquila and Priscilla, to whom he sends greetings, 
had, according to the Acts (xviii. 2), left Rome about, or 
rather before, the pretended date of this epistle, in obedience 
to the edict of Claudius, commanding all Jews to depart 
from Rome. C. xi. 12 shows that it must have been written 
after the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the 
Jews, and verses 15, 21, and 22 also show that this epistle 
must have been written after these events. It is probably 
the result of the compromise then arrived at between the 
two parties. 

The General Council of Africa, which was held in a.d. 418, 
excommunicated all who said that Adam was born mortal. 
This council held that Adam only became mortal after his 
fall, and that all children who were born into the world par- 
ticipated in the crime committed by their first parent, and 
that this natural corruption could only be effaced by baptism. 
The Council of Florence decided that " the souls of those 
who die either in natural or original sin, fall straightway 
into hell, there to be punished by unequal punishments " 
(pcenis disparibus puniendas). The Council of Trent says : 
" If any one maintains that Adam, sullied by the crime of 
disobedience, has only transmitted death and bodily suffer- 
ings to the whole human race, and not sin, which is the 
death of the soul, let him be anathema. If any one denies 
that this sin of Adam is transmitted to all men by propa- 
gation, and not by imitation, or shall deny that it is inherent 
in each individual, and can only be taken away by the 
merits of Jesus Christ ; if any one say that little children do 
not derive original sin from Adam, and maintains that so 
far as they are concerned baptism is not a real remission of 
sins ; if any one denies that the guilt of original sin is 
effaced by the grace of baptism, let them be anathema." 

This dogma is founded on the narrative contained in Gen. 
ii. and iii. But the better informed among the Jews them- 
selves admit that this narrative is merely an allegory. 
Maimonides, the most learned of the Rabbis, says of the 



THE TALMUD OPFOSED TO THIS DOGMA. 43 

book of Genesis, " We ought not to take literally that which 
is written in the Book of the Creation, nor entertain the 
same ideas of it as are common with the vulgar. If it were 
otherwise our learned ancient sages would not have taken so 
much pains to conceal the sense, and to keep before the eyes 
of the uninstructed the veil of allegory which conceals the 
truths which it contains. Taken literally, that work contains 
the most extravagant and absurd ideas of the Deity." 
(Maimon. More Nevoch, part II. c. 29). In Bereschit Rabba, 
sect. 21, R. Simeon ben Yohai says respecting the third 
chapter of Genesis, "Woe to him who takes the biblical nar- 
ratives for ordinary ones, made to amuse and satisfy the 
curiosity of the vulgar ! If it were so, nothing would pre- 
vent us from composing stories which would be much more 
interesting, and, so to speak, superior to the episodes of 
Scripture. No. The narratives of the Holy Book are mere 
coverings which conceal luminous truths. He who takes the 
bark for the fruit, the exterior of the Thorah for the Thorah 
itself, is mad. If fools, incapable of looking beyond what is 
before them, are content with admiring the dress without 
caring for the being who is clad in it, intelligent persons 
will nevertheless give all their attention to the ideas which 
have been thus dressed up. It is the latter which will en- 
gage their looks and their meditations." 

A legend of the Talmud (Nida XXXI. 2) says that at the 
moment when the human soul is about to become incarnate 
in our earthly body, the angels make it swear to maintain 
its purity in this its ephemeral dwelling-place, in order that 
it may return pure to its Creator. This Midrasch (explana- 
tion) is a poetical affirmation of our primitive innocence, 
and of the traditional Jewish doctrine on this subject, and is 
as follows : — 

" R. Simlai says : The child in the bosom of its mother 
resembles folded tablets ; its hands rest on its temples, its 
elbows on its knees, &c. There is a light on its head, and it 
sees from one end of the world to the other, just as he who 
sleeps in Judsea can see as far as Spain in his dreams. Never 
will that child pass happier days than those which it passes 
in its mother's bosom. It is there that the Thorah is taught 
it. But as soon as it is born an angel touches it on the 
mouth, and it forgets all that is past. 

" Then this angel exacts an oath from the child. What 
oath? To live justly, and to avoid impiety. 'Abjure all 



44 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

vanity,' says the angel to the child, ' and even if thou 
shouldest be called The Just, or the Son of God, promise 
that thou wilt only consider thyself a sinner. Learn next 
that the Holy One, blessed be he, is pure, that his children 
are pure, and that the soul which he giveth thee this day is 
pure also. Swear therefore to keep thy soul in its native 
purity, and learn that if thou failest to keep thine oath, thy 
soul will be taken from thee, and thou wilt become merely 
matter and nothingness." (Talmud, Mda XXX. 6.) 

In the Haggadah it is said, " As God fills the whole uni- 
verse, so does the soul fill the whole body. As God sustains 
the whole universe, so does the soul sustain the whole body. 
As God is pure, so is the soul." The original purity of the 
soul is frequently set forth in the Talmud in opposition to the 
doctrine of Original Sin, which it invariably rejects. Thus 
it says, " There is no death without actual sin ; no pain 
without personal offence. The same Spirit which has said in 
the Pentateuch, ' The fathers shall not be put to death for the 
children, neither shall the children be put to death for 
the fathers,' has also said that no one shall be punished 
for the sin of another." 

The second and third chapters of Genesis, which contain 
the account of the fall of man, differ from the first in many 
important particulars. In the first chapter the Elohim or 
Aleim act ; in the others, Jehovah. In the first chapter the 
earth is covered with water ; in the second it is dry and bar- 
ren, though we find, to our surprise, four rivers watering the 
garden, although no rain had fallen. In the first chapter 
the animals are created before man ; in the second chapter 
man is created first, then the animals, and, lastly, woman. 
In the first chapter the Elohim allow all the fruits of the 
earth to be eaten without any exception ; in the second Je- 
hovah forbids man to eat of the fruit of a tree called the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the first chapter 
the creation is spread over six days ; in the second no days 
are mentioned. In the first chapter (which extends to v. 2 
of the second chapter) the seventh day is sanctified because 
God rested on it from his six days' labour ; in the second 
chapter the seventh day is not mentioned at all. Lastly, in 
the first chapter, there is no mention of the Garden of Eden; 
in the second chapter all the events take place in the Garden 
of Eden, in which they originate. 



THE HISTORY OF THE FALL EXAMINED. 



45 



The fifth chapter of Genesis, which contains the genealogy 
adopted in the third gospel, ignores the whole story, for it 
says that "Adam lived 130 years, and begat a son in his own 
likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth." There 
is no mention of Eve, or of the serpent, or of Cain, her first- 
born, or of Abel. The anthor is evidently referring to the 
statement in c. i. 27, that God created man "male and 
female," which is hopelessly irreconcilable with the subse- 
quent statement that woman was created after Adam had 
been placed in the Garden of Eden, and had given names to 
the cattle, &c. ; and although he speaks of other sons and 
daughters of Adam, he does so without naming them, and 
Seth is distinctly put forward as Adam's first-born son. The 
differences between the two genealogies are as follows : — 



CHAPTEE V. 

The Elohim create Adam 

Adam begets Seth 

Seth begets Enos 

Enos begets Cainan 

Cainan begets Mahalaleel 

Mahalaleel begets Jared 

Jared begets Enoch 

Enoch begets Methuselah 

Methuselah begets Lamech 

Lamech begets Noah 

Noah begets Shem, Ham, and Japheth 



CHAPTER IV. 
Jehovah creates Adam 
Adam begets Cain, Abel, and Seth 
Cain begets Enoch 
Enoch begets Irad 
Irad begets Mehujael 
Mehujael begets Methusael 
Methusael begets Lamech 
Lamech marries 

Adah Zillah 



Jabal Jubal Tubal, Cain, Naamah 



These genealogies contradict each other in every imagin- 
able way. In c. iv. Seth is made to be the third son, and 
Enoch, the just man, is made to be the son of Cain! In c. 
v., on the contrary, he is the son of Jared. In c. iv. Enoch 
begets Irad ; in c. v. he begets Methuselah. In chapter v. 
Lamech is the son of Methuselah, and the grandson of 
Enoch ; in c. iv. three new names are interposed between 
him and Enoch, viz., Irad, Mehujael, and Methusael. Lastly, 
Noah is not mentioned in c. iv., and the genealogy of Seth 
terminates with his son Enos. 

We shall confine ourselves to the literal sense of 
this celebrated narrative, as that is the only one taught at 
the present day. St. Jerome says that no one who does not 
believe in the transformation of a rib into a woman can 
believe in God : "Non potest quispiam credere in conditorem 
Deum, nisi prius crediderit de Sanctis ejus vera esse qua 
scripta sunt, Adam a Deo plasmatum ; Evam ex costa illius 
et latere fabricatum." It follows from this that the believers 



46 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

in the literal interpretation must either renounce their belief 
in physiology or in God. This, however, is not the only 
difficulty attendant upon the literal interpretation. 

The narrative speaks of three guilty individuals, the 
serpent, the woman, and the man. The serpent is first 
cursed, and then ordered to go upon his belly, as if a serpent 
had ever progressed in any other manner, and as if many 
other animals who were never cursed did not also go upon their 
bellies. He is then ordered to eat dust — a command w r hich 
he has never obeyed. It is evident from Isaiah lxv. 25, 
"Dust shall be the serpent's meat;" and Micah vii. 17, 
" They shall bite the dust like the serpent " (both chapters 
written after the Captivity) ; that this was understood liter- 
ally ; besides which we cannot interpret one portion of a nar- 
rative literally, and another allegorically. Perplexed by 
these difficulties, the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke has endeavoured 
in his edition of the Bible to make the serpent to have been 
a monkey, which, however, agrees just as badly with the 
interpretation. It is then said that the seed of the serpent 
is to be at enmity with the seed of the woman, but this is 
common to the serpent with all other beasts of prey, and it 
is impossible to understand why the serpent, who was the 
cause of man's disobedience, should be endowed with a power 
of injuring him which he did not possess before. Josephus 
(Ant. 1. I. 1) says that God inserted poison under the ser- 
pent's tongue, forgetting that many species of serpents are 
perfectly harmless. The serpent is never identified with 
Satan till the apocryphal book of Wisdom, which is of a very 
late date, if it is not a Christian work. " St. Jerome (Prsef, in 
lib. Salominis) says that the wisdom of Solomon resembles 
the Grecian style, and that ancient authors attributed it to 
Philo. The general belief on this subject is that Satan came 
from hell, and took the form of a serpent in order to deceive 
Eve. But Irenseus states (Adv. Hser. 1. Y.) ei Well did Justin 
say that before the appearance of our Lord, Satan never 
ventured to blaspheme God, because lie did not yet know his 
own condemnation." The woman is then told that she shall 
have pain in child-bearing — a pain which she shares with 
the lower animals — and that her husband shall rule over her, 
which therefore cannot have been the case previously. Adam, 
w T ho had been guilty of the crime of disobedience equally 
with Eve, is, however, not cursed at all, but the earth is 



ABSURDITIES OF THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION" . 4/ 

cursed for his sake, and the alleged punishment is one of the 
greatest blessings bestowed upon man by his Creator, and as 
different in its effects as possible to the lazy sensual life 
which has always led to the degradation of the human race, 
and which is indicated in the Vulgate as characteristic of the 
Garden of Eden by the words, " In Paradiso voluptatis," and 
in the Septuagint by the words Uapci%si<rov rrjs rpvcprj?. 

The doctrine of Original Sin is opposed to the teaching of 
all the other parts of the Old Testament. In Dent. viii. 5 
Israel is told, " Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that 
as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth 
thee." In Prov. iii. 12 it is said, "For whom the Lord 
loveth he chasteneth, even as a father the son in whom he 
delighteth." Job (v. 17) says, "Behold, happy is the man 
whom God correcteth, therefore despise not thou the chasten- 
ing of the Almighty." In Ps. xciv. 12 we read, "Blessed is 
the man whom thou chastenest, Lord." In Isa. xlv. 7 
God is represented as saying, "I create evil." Jeremiah 
(Lam. iii. 38) asks, " Out of the mouth of the Most High 
proceedeth not evil and good?" And Job asks (ii. 10), 
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and 
shall we not receive evil?" 

The Talmud is full of this teaching on the subject of 
evil. Thus it is said in Thaanit, fol. 21, " The just man 
will take for his model ISfahani the resigned, who at each 
blow that he received exclaimed, ' It is for my good.' " In 
Shabat 886 and Yoma 23 it is said, " They whose acts are 
all inspired by the love of God, and who find in their suffer- 
ings a subject of pious joy, resemble the sun when he arises 
in his majesty at the dawn of day." In Treatise Berachoth 
again it is said, " To enjoy the two tables (happiness in 
this world and the next) is not the lot of all men." R. 
Eliezer (More Kotan ix. 6) says, " This world is but an inn 
on the road ; the other world is our dwelling-place." 

The literal meaning of this narrative was, however, ac- 
cepted by many among the Jews. The Talmud, that strangle 
assemblage of Jewish ideas and traditions on theology, philo- 
sophy, science, and hygiene, is not without traces of the 
absurdities to which such views of the Divine Mature as are 
inculcated by the literal meaning reduced the human mind in 
those days. In Treatise Berachoth we read: " It has been 
taught (Treatise Synhedr. fol. 70 a ) that the tree Adam ate of 



48 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

was, according to R. Meir, the vine, for nothing entices man 
so much as wine, of which it is said (Gen. ix. 21), s He drank 
of the wine and was drunken.' According to R. Nehemiah, 
however, it was a fig, for the very tree which caused their 
fall served in part to repair their fault ; for it is said (Gen. 
iii. 7), 'they sewed fig leaves together.'" In another part 
of this treatise it said that the tree of life was so long that 
it would take five hundred years to get up it. R. Juda in 
the name of R. Ha'i says, " This length is not obtained by 
adding the length of the branch to it. The tree itself was 
of this length, and all the streams that were created gushed 
from its base." Ps. i. 3 is said to allude to the tree of life. 
It is also said that this tree represented the sixtieth part of 
the garden, and the garden the sixtieth part of Eden, for it 
is said (Gen. ii. 10), "A river went out of Eden to water the 
garden ; " the latter is therefore only a portion of Eden. 

The origin of blessing the light among the Jews is as 
follows according to the Talmud. R. Levi says that light, 
which had been created in the beginning, ceased as soon as 
Saturday was ended, and darkness began to prevail. " Adam 
was afraid, and said, ' Now perhaps is the moment when the 
biblical prediction is about to be realised, according to 
which I shall tread on the head of the serpent, and he shall 
bite my heel, and he cried out, Also he will bite me in the 
dark.' At that moment," says R. Levi, " God caused him 
to touch two bricks, which he rubbed against one another, 
and light came forth from them, according to the verse, 
c Even the night shall be light about thee,' and he blessed 
God, saying, 6 Praises to him who created the light of fire.' 
This, says Samuel, is why the light is blessed on Saturday 
evening, in memory of this creation." — (Treatise Berachoth, 
c. viii. 8.) 

We find this teaching among the Greeks. Solon held that 
the punishment which a guilty man had not undergone, was 
merely postponed, and that it would fall upon him in the 
person of his children. Theognis, protesting against this in- 
justice on the part of the gods, addresses a prayer to them, 
in which he boldly asks them not to persevere in it, and not 
to punish virtuous children for the crimes of their fathers 
any longer. Euripides reproaches the gods with imputing 
to the children the sins of their fathers. iEschylus, Sophocles, 
Lucretius, and Horace have dwelt on the sacrifice of Iphi- 



PIIILO OX THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 49 

genia, and, though they complain of the injustice of the 
gods, they never attached the absurd belief on which the 
story is based. Bion, however {circa B.C. 300), said that if 
God punished children for the sins of their fathers, he would 
be more absurd than a physician who should administer to 
children the remedies necessary to cure their fathers' ma- 
ladies. 

Philo's account of the origin of evil is as follows. He 
says that it was a very appropriate task for God to create 
those things which are wholly good, but that it is partly 
consistent and partly inconsistent with his nature to create 
beings of a mixed nature, and that this is why God is repre- 
sented as saying, u Let us make man," which expression, he 
says, ■" shows an assumption of other beings to himself as 
assistants." (De Creat. Mundi, c. 55.) 

Speaking in this same work (c. 54 and 56) of the account 
of the Garden of Eden in Genesis he says, " These statements 
appear to me to be dictated by a philosophy which is sym- 
bolical rather than strictly accurate. ... I conceive 
that Moses was speaking in an allegorical spirit, intending 
by his paradise to intimate the dominant character of the 
soul, which is full of innumerable opinions as this figurative 
paradise was of trees. And by the tree of life he was sha- 
dowing out the greatest of the virtues — namely, piety towards 
the gods, by means of which the soul is made immortal, and 
by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he was intimating 
that wisdom and moderation, by means of which things con- 
trary in their nature to one another are distinguished." As 
to the serpent, the temptation, &c, he says, " These things 
are not mere fabulous inventions, in which the race of poets 
and sophists delight ; but are rather types shadowing forth 
some allegorical truths according to some mystical explana- 
tion." 

Philo pursues the same allegorical method in speaking of 
the Deluge. The " orthodox " party in this country still 
teach, in bold defiance of the plainest scientific, historical, 
and monumental evidences to the contrary, that in B.C. 2348 
the summit of the loftiest peak of the Himalayas was fifteen 
cubits under water, and that there were only eight persons 
in existence in the world at that time. At this period, ac- 
cording to Herodotus (II. 143, 144), settled government had 
existed in Egypt for 9,700 years, and he was shown the 

E 



50 



GOSPEL HISTORY 



effigies of priests who had followed each other in regular 
succession from b.c. 12,053 down to the time of his visit in 
B.C. 450. According to the learned Mariette Bey the 14th 
dynasty of the Egyptian kings was then on the throne, and 
an uninterrupted series of these kings can be traced up to 
the 1st dynasty of the Thinites in B.C. 5004. Bishop Colenso, 
after proving the impossibilities and absurdities of the Bible 
narrative, observes in his Critical Examination of the New 
Bible Commentary, " It really needs an apology to the com- 
mon sense of my readers for putting before them in plain 
words such considerations as these. But I am compelled to 
enter into these absurd details by the contents of this Com- 
mentary, put forth under the sanction of the archbishops and 
bishops of England. A few years ago there were many who 
ridiculed the notion of such things being seriously believed 
in these days, and who condemned my own exposure of such 
absurdities as utterly unnecessary amidst the light and 
knowledge of the present age. But here we have this Com- 
mentary, set on foot by the Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons, and expressing, or supposed very naturally to ex- 
press, the very mind of the English Episcopate, propounding 
gravely these childish 6 explanations ' to satisfy the doubts of 
devout and earnest inquirers, and Bishop Browne, as one of 
the most learned members of that body, as the very Cory- 
phseus of the scholarship of England, bringing the English 
Church into contempt throughout the world by these in- 
eptitudes." 

Origen (Philocal. p. 12) asks, "What man of good sense 
will ever persuade himself that there has been a first, a 
second, and a third day, and that these days have each of 
them had their morning and their evening, when there was 
as yet neither sun, nor moon, nor stars ? What man is there 
so simple as to believe that God, personifying a gardener, 
planted a garden in the East ? That the tree of life was a 
real tree, which could be touched, and the fruit of which had 
the power of preserving life ?" &c. He compares the story of 
the temptation to the mystic fable of the birth of Love, whose 
father was Porus, the father of abundance : and in his answer 
to Celsus he upbraids that sarcastic infidel with his total 
want of candour in treating this story as if it had been deli- 
vered as historical, Celsus not giving them the words which 
would have convinced them that they were spoken allegori- 



ORIGEN OX THE FALL OF MAN.' 51 

cally (Contra Cels., 1. IV.). " It is not reasonable," lie says, 
" to deny to Moses the possession of truth, under the veil 
of allegory, which was then the practice of all Eastern na- 
tions." In the same work Origen distinctly admits that 
there are Arcana Imperii in the Christian religion which are 
not fit to be entrusted to the vulgar, and in another part of 
it he speaks in strong terms against the vulgar belief that 
God punishes the wicked solely in order to avenge disobedi- 
ence of his commands. He says, " In punishing the wicked 
God can have no other aim than to bring him back to virtue. 
These chastisements are nothing but means of education. 
When the wicked man is punished, he is not deprived of 
either feeling or reason. The punishments inflicted on him 
by God are the medicines by which he corrects him, in order 
to bring him back to him. Such is the belief of sensible 
Christians." 

The oldest evangelical tradition began, not with the birth 
of Jesus, but with the preaching of John, as is evident from 
Acts i. 22 and x. 37. We are also told (Epiphan. Hser. xxx. 
§ 13, 4) that the Ebionites and primitive Christians made use 
of a gospel which did not contain the genealogy of Christ. 
Mr. Sharpe in his treatise on Egyptian Mythology (p. 89) 
has pointed out that we have historic evidence that the two 
first chapters of Matthew's and Luke's Gospels, which receive 
no support from the other two gospels or from the epistles, 
formed no part of the original gospels, and that they are of 
Egyptian origin, being all but identical with the Egyptian 
ideas of the miraculous conception of their kings, and espe- 
cially with the miraculous birth of Amunothph III., as shown 
in a series of sculptures on the wall of the temple of Luxor, 
which contain the annunciation, the conception, the birth, 
and the adoration of that king. The account of the mother 
of Christ being found with child of the Holy Ghost (Matt. i. 
18) is contradicted by the passage in c. xii. 46 of that gospel, 
in which his brethren (not his half-brothers) are spoken of, 
and by that in c. xiii. 55, 56, in which his sisters are also 
spoken of, and in which he is called "the carpentei's son." 
It is impossible also to reconcile the account in c. iii. 16 of 
the Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus for the first time after 
his baptism by John with his being the son of the Holy 
Ghost in the first chapter. The life of Christ therefore begins, 

E 2 



52 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

strictly speaking, with his baptism by John ; but there are 
many questions connected with these chapters which can 
best be considered by an examination of them, and we shall 
therefore begin with them as if they were an integral part of 
the gospels. 



BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 53 



CHAPTER I. 

The first incident in the canonical gospels is the miraculous 
birth of John the Baptist. This marvellous event would not 
have been introduced into the gospel narrative if it had not 
been in accordance with the ideas held on this subject bj the 
Jews, and which are thus set forth in the Gospel of the Birth 
of Mary (c. ii. 5-8) : " When God shuts the womb of any 
person, he does it for this reason, that he may in a more 
wonderful manner again open it, and that which is born 
appear to be not the product of lust, but the gift of God. 
For the first mother of your nation, Sarah, was she not bar- 
ren even till her eightieth year? and yet even in her old age 
she brought forth Isaac, in whom the promise was made of 
a blessing to all nations. Rachel also, so much in favour 
with God, and beloved so much by holy Jacob, continued 
barren for a long time, yet afterwards was the mother of 
Joseph, who was not only governor of Egypt, but delivered 
many nations from perishing with hunger. Who among the 
judges was more valiant than Samson, and more holy than 
Samuel? and yet both their mothers were barren." Josephus, 
however, who speaks of John the Baptist, never appears to 
have heard of his miraculous birth. 

The narrative in Luke states that the parents of John 
were " a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of 
Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her 
name was Elisabeth." In c. i. 36 Elisabeth is said to be the 
cousin of Mary. This would make the latter to belong to 
the tribe of Levi instead of that of Judah. In v. 11 it is said 
that an angel appeared to Zacharias. Many passages, both 
in the Talmud and in Josephus, show that these appear- 
ances were usually to high priests. In the Protevangelion 
(viii. 4) Zacharias is called the high priest, and in c. ix. 5 it 
is this high priest who becomes dumb, and Samuel is 
appointed in his place until he spoke again. This pro vision 



54 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

was absolutely necessary, for, according to Lev. xxi. 16 et 
seqq., a dumb priest could not perform any of his priestly 
functions. Not only, however, is this provision omitted in 
the third gospel, but Zacharias is represented as accom- 
plishing " the days of his ministration," that is, his weekly 
service, showing the writer's ignorance of the Jewish 
law. 

The dumbness as represented in the Protevangelion is the 
effect of the recognition of Mary (Heb. Maryam) by Zacha- 
rias as being of the tribe of David, and it is probably founded 
-upon Dan. x. 13, where it is said that Daniel "set his face 
toward the ground and became dumb " after the angel had 
spoken to him. This dumbness is inflicted upon Zacharias 
in this gospel merely for asking a question which Abraham 
(Gen. xv. 8) and Sarah (Gen. xviii. 12) had asked without 
receiving any punishment, Abraham having actually fallen 
on his face and laughed at the promise (Gen. xvii. 17). 
The angel's anger appears still more extraordinary when we 
find, in this same chapter, that Mary asks the same question 
(v. 88) and is not blamed for doing so. 

In the Protevangelion Zacharias is murdered because he 
refuses to tell Herod where John was, and Simeon succeeds 
him. In Luke, however, neither Zacharias nor Simeon are 
high priests, but the narrative has been constructed out of 
the LXX., as is evident from the use of the same expressions. 
Conf. Luke i. 7, 7rpoo-/3s/3rjfc6rs9 iv rah rj/LLspai? avr&v, with 
Gen. xviii. 11, irpoa^s^^KOTSs r/iJLspojv; Luke i. 18, Kara rl 
tyvdoaofiaL toOto, with Gen. xv. 8, Kara ri yvaxrofiai o tl k\tj- 
povojubtjaa). Elisabeth (the Greek form of Elisheba), who is 
said to be of the daughters of Aaron, appears to be taken 
from Elisheba (LXX. ^XiadBsr), who was Aaron's wife (Exod. 
vi. 23). In the Protevangelion she is merely called Mary's 
cousin. Luke i. 24-26 is applied to Mary, not to Elisabeth, 
in the Protevangelion. It is there said (c. ix. 23, x. 1) that 
Mary, " perceiving herself to grow big, and being afraid, 
went home, and hid herself away from the children of Israel, 
and was fourteen years old when all these things happened. 
And when her sixth month was come," &c. The predictions 
of the angel are principally taken from Judges xiii. John 
was known to have been an ascetic, therefore the angel is re- 
presented as saying, olvov kcli aUsjpa ov firj Trcrj. Conf. Judges 
xiii. 14 (LXX.), kcl\ olvov teal aUspa ov pur] ttisto). Conf. also 



THE AMSCHASPANDS. 55 

v. 15 b with Judges xiii. 5. In Luke i. 80, John grows, and 
waxes strong in spirit, and is in the desert. Conf. Judges 
xiii. 24, 25. 

The name of John is given beforehand by the angel just 
as the names of Ishmael and Isaac are. In Gen. xvi. 11 it 
is said, JLal koXsctsis to ovofjua avrov 'lay-ta^X, ; and in Gen. 
xvii. 19 ... . 'Icradfc. In Luke i. 13 we have the same 
exjDression : Kal tcaXzcrzLS rb ovofia avrov " > \wa.W7)v. 

In Luke i. 19, the angel who appears to Zacharias an- 
nounces his name — Gabriel. It is certain, by the admis- 
sion of the Jews themselves, that they did not know any 
names of angels before the Captivity. R. Simeon ben Lachish 
(Treatise Rosch Haschanah, f. 56, 4) says that the names of 
the angels came to the Jews from Babylon, and he gives as 
an example the fact that in Isa. vi., which was written 
before the Captivity, it is said, " There flew one of the sera- 
phim to me," and " above it stood the seraphim," Avhereas 
in Dan. ix. 21 "the man Gabriel," and in x. 21 "Michael 
your prince " are spoken of. In Tobit xii. 15, Raphael is 
represented as being one of the seven holy angels (a number 
which corresponds to that of the Persian Amschaspands) 
" which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One." 
In Isa. xlv. 5-7, a portion of Isaiah which, was written after 
the return from Captivity, a sort of protest is made against 
the dualism of the Persian religion, and we are told in Acts 
xxiii. 9, that the Sadducees did not believe in angels at all ; 
but notwithstanding this, Ormuzd and Ahriman, the good 
and the evil principle, became adopted into the Jewish 
system. Ahriman, the prince of darkness, became, it is 
true, transformed into Satan, but, like Ahriman, Satan has 
his seven servants, or demons, who execute his commands 
and lead men into sin ; and like Ormuzd, Jehovah has also 
his seven angels of light, or Amschaspands, who faithfully 
obey his orders. 

The Amschaspands are genii or angels of the first order, who 
form the retinue of Ormuzd, the beneficent deity, the source 
of all light. Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. YI.) says that 
there are seven archangels in the Christian hierarchy, just 
as there are seven planets in the Chaldsean theology which 
are appointed to govern the world. It is evident that the 
Jewish ideas respecting them were astronomical from their 
Cabala, in which each of those seven angels presides over a 



56 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



planet. The following is their system according to Kircher 
(M&. Jud. vol. II. pars 1, p. 310) :— 



The Sun . 


THEIR, ANGELS. 


INTELLIGENCES. 


SFIRSTS. 


Raphael. 


Nagiel. 


Smeliel. 


Venus 


HamieJ. 


Hagiel. 


Naguel. 


Mercury . 


Michael. 


Tiriel. 


Cochabiel. 


The Moon 


Gabriel. 


Elimiel. 


Lemanael. 


Saturn 


Zapkiel. 


Agiel. 


Sabathiel'. 


Jupiter . 


Zadykiel. 


Sophiel. 


Zadakiel. 


Mars 


Ckamael. 


Graphiel . 


Modiniel. 



These angels, or planets, were held to he ever watching 
over mortal affairs, as shown in the following table : — 

Number of the hours during which, according to the Jews, the 
angels serve and minister unto man by day and by night 
throughout the week. 



On the Sabbath the Angel 

of the Sun presides over 

the first hours, &c. 


The Angels 
of Venus, &c. 


The Angels 
of Mercury, 


The Angels 
of the Moon, 


The Angels 
of Saturn, 


The Angels- 
of Mars, &e-. 


Hours. 


Hours. 


Hours. 


Hours. 


Hours. 


Hours, 


On the day 
of the 

Moon . 
Mars . 
Mercury 
Jupiter . 
Venus . 
Saturn . 


m 4 


$ 4 


S 4 


D 3 


T? 3 


(f 3 


J> 4 


h 4 


% ^ 


S 3 


Q 3 


g 3 


<? 4 


O 4 


? 4 


S 3 


]) 3 


1/ 3 


3 4 


D 4 


P? 4 


% 3 


<? 3 


? 3 


% 4 


S 4 


• 4 


$ 3 


S 3 


T2 3 


? 4 


9 4 


D 4 


h c 3 


1/ 3 


O 3 


F? 4 


% ± 


S 4 


3 


? 3 


D 3 



The genealogy of Christ in Luke's Gospel extends beyond 
David and Abraham, and has an universal tendency. The 
first portion of this genealogy agrees with that in 1 Ohron. 
i., with three exceptions, as far as Nathan, after which we 
only meet with two names, Salathiel and Zorobabel, which 
are mentioned in the Old Testament. Even here, however, 
the genealogy disagrees with the latter, for it makes Sala- 



THE GENEALOGIES OF CHRIST. 



57 



tliiel to be the son of a person named Eeri, who is not 
mentioned in the Old Testament, while in 1 Chron. iii. 7, 
Salathiel is said to be the son of Zechariah. Again, Bhesa 
is said to be the son of Zerubbabel, but there is no such 
name in 1 Chron. iii. 19, 20, where the children of Zerub- 
babel are enumerated. It has been remarked that this list 
contains the number seven eleven times by the awkward 
expedient of reckoning Abraham twice over, but the sub- 
joined list also contains that number eleven times up to 
Christ without any forcing of the text. 

Matthew's genealogy avowedly proceeds upon the number 
seven as a basis. In the last column, however, beginning 
with Salathiel, where he says there should be fourteen genera- 
tions there are only thirteen. This damaging fact is ad- 
mitted by the Fathers, including Jerome and Augustine, and 
therefore it is unnecessary to dwell upon modern attempts 
at explanation by counting David twice over, &c. The 
fpllowing are the genealogies in Luke and Matthew, with 
the spelling of the Codex Sinaiticus. The genealogy in 
1 Chronicles i. is prefixed. 



CHRONICLES. 


LUKE. 


MATTHEW. 


CHRONICLES. 


LUKE. 


MATTHEW. 


Adam 


Adam 




Pharez 


Phares 


Phares 


Sheth 


Seth 




Hezron 


Esrom 


Esrom 


Enosh 


Enos 






Ami 




Kenan 


Cainam 






Adnim 




Mahlaleel 


Meleleel 




Ram 


Aram 


Aram 


Jered 


Javet 




Aminadab 


Adam 


Aminadab 


Henoch 


Enoch 




Nahshon 


Nasson 


Naasson 


Methuselah 


Mathusala 




Salma 


Sala 


Salmon 


Lamech 


Lamech 




Boaz 


Booz 


Boes 


Noah 


Noe 




Obed 


Jobel 


Jobed 


Shem 


Sem 




Jesse 


Jesse 


Jesse 


Arphaxad 


Arphaxad 




David 


David 


David 




Cainam 




Solomon 


Nathan 


Solomon 


Shelah 


Sal a 






Mattatha 


Roboam 


Eber 


Heber 




Abia 


Menna 


'. bia 


Peleg 


Phalec 




Asa 


Melea 


K saph 


Ren 


Ragan 




Jehoshaphat 


Eliakim 


Josaphat 


Serug 


Saruch 




Joram 


Jonam 


Joram 


Nahor 


Nachor 






Joseph 


Ozias 


Terah 


Thara 






Juda 


Joatham 


Ahrani 


Abraham 


Abraham 




Simeon 


Achaz 


Isaac 


Isac 


Isaac 




Levi 


Ezeluas 


Israel 


Jacob 


Jacob 




Matthat 


Manasses 



53 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 
Genealogy — continued. 



CHRONICLES. 


LUKE. 


MATTHEW. 


CHRONICLES. 


LUKE. 


MATTHEW. 




Jorim 


Amos 




Mattathias 






Eliazer 


Josias 




Maath 






Jesu 


Jechonias 




Nag-ga 






Ei- 


Salathiel 




Esh 






Elm adam 


Zorobabel 




Naum 






Cosa 


Abiud 




Amos 






Addi 


Eliakim 




Mattathias 






Melchi 


Azor 




Joseph 






Neri 


Sadocli 




Janne 






Salathiel 


Achim 




Melchi 






Zorobabel 


Eliud 




Levi 






Khesa 


Eleazar 




Matthat 






Jon an 


Matthan 




Heli 






Joda 


Jacob 




Joseph 






Josech 


Joseph 




Jesus 






Semein 


Jesus 









The variations from the text of the Old Testament in 
Matthew's list are as follows : The first is in v. 4, where it 
is said that Rahab the harlot was the mother of Booz. This 
receives no confirmation from 1 Chron. ii. 13, but in Ruth, 
which the Jews have always held to be one of the later books, 
and in which David is made to be the son of a Moabite 
mother, Salmon, who is the husband of Rahab in Matthew, 
and who is the great-grandfather of David, is the son of a 
certain Nahshon, who, according to Numbers i. 7, was in the 
desert with Moses. In b. c. 1451 (according to the received 
chronology) Rahab hid the Jewish spies, and thus enabled 
Joshua to conquer the country. Rahab was held in great 
estimation by the Jews for this act, and this was probably 
the reason why she was made an ancestor of David and of 
Christ. This, however, renders the chronology hopeless, for 
as David was not born till b. c. 1070, there are only four 
generations in four hundred years. In the Gospel to the 
Hebrews, which also begins with the genealogy of Christ, 
and in which the introductory words are the same, BiftKos 
ryevsarsois 'Irjaov Xpio-rov vlov Aav'18, vlov 'A/Spad/u, k. t. X., the 
names of Thamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, in verses 3, 5, 
and 6, are omitted, and it appears that the Jewish Christians 
were dreadfully scandalised at the names of such women being 
inscribed in this genealogy. In v. 8, the Gospel to the 



THE GOSPEL OF THE BIRTH OF MARY. 59 

Hebrews has not omitted the three kings, Ahaziah, Jehoash, 
and Amaziah, between Jehorarn and TJzziah, and Jehoiakim, 
the father of Zechoniah, is inserted between Josiah and 
Jehoiachin or Zechoniah, but Matthew has omitted him 
altogether. The reason this has been done is that Jer. xxii. 
30 renders the descent of Christ from the line of David im- 
possible, for it is there said, " Thns saith the Lord, Write ye 
this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days ; 
for no man of his seed [Jehoiakim's] shall prosper, sitting 
upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." 
In v. 28 Coniah (Jechoniah) is called a " despised broken 
idol," and he and his seed are cast out, while Jehoiakim is to 
be " buried with the burial of an ass," and cast out of the 
gates of Jerusalem (v. 19). The Epistle of Barnabas, which 
forms part of the Codex Sinaiticus, and was read throughout, 
in the churches of Alexandria, as the Canonical Scriptures 
were, and which is quoted by many ancient Fathers, says 
positively (xi. 13) that to believe that Jesus Christ is the son 
of David, is an " error of the wicked." Verse 17, containing 
the numbering of the generations, is not in this Gospel. 
The most important thing of all, however, is that the 16th 
verse is in this Gospel, 'Iava)/3 hs syysvrjasv rbv 'Irjaovv s/c ttjs 
Maplas, "And Jacob begat Jesus from Mary." The whole 
story of the miraculous birth of Christ, of the visit of the 
Magi, and of Herod's massacre of the children at Bethlehem, 
is absent from the Gospel to the Hebrews. Joseph has 
evidently been inserted in order to account for the miracu- 
lous birth, &c; 

Although the genealogy in the Gospel to the Hebrews re- 
sembles that in Chronicles rather than that of Matthew, there 
are two divergences from the former which are common to 
them both, viz., that in Chronicles (iii. 19), Zerubbabel is the 
son of Pedaiah, and not of Salathiel, and that no such person 
as Abiud the son of Zerubbabel is mentioned. 

The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, which has come down to 
us in the works of Jerome, says that Mary was the daughter 
of Joachim and Anna ; that her father's family was of Naza- 
reth, and her mother's of Bethlehem ; and that she herself 
was born at Nazareth, educated at Jerusalem, and was of the 
royal race of David. The ancient copies, however, differed 
materially from Jerome's, for Faustus, who was a native of 
Britain, and bishop of Eiez, in France, showed from one of 



60 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

them that Christ was not the Son of God till after his bap- 
tism, and that Mary was not of the house of David and tribe 
of Judah, but of the tribe of Levi, her father being a priest of 
the name of Joachim ; and this agrees with the statement in 
Luke, that she was the cousin of Elisabeth. In Luke i. 27 
the words " of the house of David" refer only to the words 
immediately preceding them, viz., " a man whose name was 
Joseph," and not to the words " a virgin espoused." In Luke ii. 
4, it is said " Joseph went up , . (because he was of the house 
and lineage of David) to be registered with Mary." If Mary 
had also been of the lineage of David, the author would have 
put avTom instead of avrov. The descent of Christ from the 
royal line of David consists, therefore, according to the 
Gospels, in the fact that a person who was not his father was 
descended from that line. When Faustus the Manichsean 
pointed out the absurdity of thus tracing the descent of Jesus 
through a person who was not his father, the only reply 
Augustine was able to make was that the masculine gender 
was of superior dignity ! 

The Jews said that Jesus was the son of Mary, the plaiter 
of woman's hair, who was also called Satda, or Stada, and of 
a man named Pandira, and that the son of Satda was first 
stoned in Lydda, and then hanged, which is the Jewish 
punishment for blasphemy (Schoettzenius, Horse Hebraicse, 
1. ix.) The Rev. Mr. Faber says that Jesus was originally 
called Jeschua Hammassiah. His name was also Jesus ben 
Panther. Panthers were the nurses and bringers-up of 
Bacchus, and Panther was said to be the surname of Joseph's 
family, according to Epiphanius (Hseres. 78, Antidic. s. 7), 
who says that Joseph was the brother of Cleophas, the son 
of James, surnamed Panther. 

In the first chapter of Luke's Gospel the angel is repre- 
sented as telling Mary that the child to be born of her should 
be called the Son of God, but in the remainder of the Gospel 
he is never mentioned by that appellation except in the ac- 
clamations of the devils in c. iv. 41, which contradicts Mark 
i. 34, where it is expressly said that he " suffered not the 
devils to speak," and is evidently a later addition. The 
Apostles are represented as calling him the Son of God after 
his ascension, not on account of his supernatural birth, which 
they do not appear to have so much as heard of, but on 
account of his being raised from the dead. In Luke Mary is 



FAUSTUS THE MANICILEAN. 61 

represented as receiving the angel without any surprise. In 
the Gospel of Mary (vii. 4), however, it is said that "the 
Virgin . . . had before been well acquainted with the counten- 
ances of angels." The rest of the narrative in Luke is iden- 
tical with that in this gospel, except the passages in brackets. 
The angel says, " Fear not, Mary [as though I intended any- 
thing inconsistent with your chastity in this salutation] , for 
thou hast found favour with God [because you make your 
virginity your choice, therefore, while you are yet a virgin] 
you shall conceive [without sin] and bring forth a son. He 
shall be great [because he shall reign from sea to sea, and 
from the rivers even unto the ends of the earth] . And he 
shall be called the Son of the Highest [for he who is born in 
a mean state reigns in an exalted state in heaven]. And 
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end. [For he is the 
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and his throne is for ever 
and ever. To this discourse of the angel the Virgin replied 
not as though she were unbelieving, but willing to know the 
manner of it.] She said, LIow can that be? Tor seeing 
[according to my vow] I have never known any man, [how 
can I have a child ?] To this the angel replied and said, 
[Think not, Mary, that you shall conceive in the ordinary 
way. For, without lying with a man, while a virgin, you 
shall conceive ; while a virgin, you shall bring forth ; and 
while a virgin you shall give suck. For] the Holy Ghost 
shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall 
overshadow you [without any of the heats of lust] . So that 
which shall be born of you shall be [only] holy [because it 
is conceived without sin, and being born] shall be called the 
son of God. Then Mary [stretching forth her hands, and 
lifting her eyes to heaven] , said, Behold the handmaid of the 
Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." 

Faustus, the Manichsean bishop, who charged the orthodox 
party with falsifying the gospels, says, " Do you receive the 
gospel ? (ask ye) . Undoubtedly I do. Why then you also 
admit that Christ was born. Not so, for it by no means fol- 
lows that in believing the gospel I should also believe that 
Christ was born. Do you not think then that he was of the 
Virgin Mary ? Manes hath said, Far b.e it that I should ever 
believe that Jesus Christ " The original is, 



62 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

" Accipis evangelium ? Et maxime. Proinde ergo et natuin 
accipis Christum. Non ita est. Neque enim sequitur ut si 
evangelium accipis, idcirco et natuin accipiam Christum. 
Ergo non putas eum ex Maria Virgine esse P Manes dixit, 
Absit ut Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum per naturalia 
pudenda mulieris descendisse confitear." (Lardner, vol. IV., 
p. 20.) 

The contradictions in the narratives of the birth of Christ 
are insuperable. In Matthew the angel is called the 
" angel of the Lord," as in Genesis, &c. ; in Luke he is called 
Gabriel. In Matthew he appears to Joseph in a dream, and 
does not appear to Mar y at all : in Luke he appears to Mary 
only. In Matthew he appears to Joseph after Mary had con- 
ceived; in Luke he appears to Mary herself before she had 
conceived. In Matthew Joseph is " minded to put her away 
privily ;" in Luke he is not in the least disturbed by what 
had occurred. 

The Protevangelion (ii. 1) says that Joseph's trade was 
" building houses abroad," and that it was on his return 
from that employment that he " found the Virgin grown big." 
Mark vi. 2, in which Jesus himself is called a carpenter, was 
not thus in Origen's time ; for Celsus, having rallied the 
Christians on the head of their religion being a carpenter by 
trade, Origen (Cont. Cels. vi. 56) says that "no doubt Celsus 
had forgotten that in none of the gospels received by the 
churches was Jesus called ' a carpenter.' " The ninth Avatar 
of India was also known by the name of Salivahana, " the 
carpenter." In Mark iii. 31 we read that the mother and 
the brethren of Jesus came to seek him. Jesus had brothers 
and sisters (Matt. i. 25 ; xii. 46 et sqq. ; xiii. 55 et sqq. ; 
John ii. 12; vii. 3, 5, 10; Acts i. 14). Hegesippus, quoted 
by Eusebius (H. E. iii. 20), mentions one of them, Judas by 
name, and says that his grandchildren were still living in 
the time of Domitian. He says that they were brought 
before Domitian ; and having stated that their whole pro- 
perty only amounted to 9,000 denarii (about 2701.) and that 
the kingdom of Christ was a celestial, not a terrestrial one, 
he dismissed them as simpletons, and ordered the persecution 
he had commenced to cease. He adds that they continued 
to live down to the time of Trajan. Jesus appears to have 
been the eldest of the family (Matt. i. 25 ; Luke ii. 7). This 
statement of Hegesippus shows that the statement in Matt. 



EXAMINATION OF ISAIAHS PROPHECY. 



63 



xiii. 55 that James, Joses, Simon, and Judas were the brothers 
of the Lord was accepted literally in the time of Eusebins, 
although Papias, who, however, omits Simon altogether, 
makes them to have been his cousins. The fourth gospel, 
which ignores the miraculous birth altogether, makes Joseph 
and Mary to be the father and mother of Jesus (vi. 42), and 
says that his brethren advised him to go into Judsea that his 
disciples might see his works (vii. 3), and adds that they did 
not believe in him. 

The angels in the two gospels use almost exactly the same 
words as are used in similar communications in the Septua- 
gint version of the Old Testament. 



ANNUNCIATION OF ISAAC. 
'lEov "Sapa t) yvvi) gov rs^erai not 
vldv Kai KaXkiTfiQ to ovofia avrov 'laaaK. 

— Gen. xvii. 19. 



Rat 
xiii. 3 



ANNUNCIATION OF SAXSON. 

avTog du^erai aiojeiv tov 'la- 
ic x tl P u G $i'Wr//u. — Judges 



ANNUNCIATION OF ISIttlAEL. 
Kai unev avTij odyyiXog Kvpiov' 
iSoi', ai) Iv yaarpi tx £i ^> Kai Ti %V v ' lur j 
Kai tcaXkoEiQ to bi't^ia ovtov 'l(TU,arjX. 
Ovrog 'i<7Tai . . . — Gen. xvi. 11. 



ANNUNCIATION OF CHRIST. 

Tf&rat Se utoi', Kai KnXtrrtig to OVOjta 
avrov l)}Govv. — Matt. L 21. 



Avrbg yap awaei toi> Xaou avroi) 
cltto Tujv afj.apTiuji' avru>r, — lb. 



Ka\ drrtv 6 dyytXog avry' 'iSov, 

avXXiyipg tv yaarpi } Kai Tt^y viovj Kai 
KaXscrsig to oi'Ofia avrov 'I/jtoD)'. Ot'- 
rog tarai. . . Luke i. 31, 32. 



In Matt. i. 22, it is said that the angel told Joseph that 
"all this was done that it might be'fulfilled which was spoken 
of the Lord by the prophet," and a quotation from Isa. vii. 
14. is added. The writer has, however, followed the LXX. 
instead of the Hebrew version, in which the word used does 
not signify a virgin, but generally a young woman. The 
LXX. have also translated the Hebrew " she calls," " shall 
call," thus giving a prophetical form to the passage which it 
does not really possess. The Hebrew " she calls " would not 
be admissible here, because it is not Mary, but the angel, 
who is represented as giving the name Emmanuel to the 
child. 

The statement in Isaiah is that Eezin, king of Syria, and 
Peleah, king of Israel, were in league against Ahaz, king of 
Judah, and invaded his territory. The heart of Ahaz " was 
moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood 
are moved with the wind." (Isa. vii. 2.) Isaiah is sent to 



64 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

reassure him, but in vain. He is then ordered to tell Ahaz 
to ask for a sign. " Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. 
Ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But 
Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." 
Upon this Isaiah tells him that the Lord himself would give 
him a sign. " Behold the young woman (nftbit) [17 irapOevos, 
LXX.] shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his 
name Immanuel " (vii. 14). The word HD 1 ?**, alma, signifies 
a marriageable girl, just as the masculine elem signifies a 
youth who has attained the age of puberty. The word 
alma is even used to signify a young woman who is not a 
virgin in such passages as Prov. xxx. 19, " the way of a man 
with a maid (alma)." In the Song of Solomon also, where 
Solomon's harem is described, it is said, u There are three- 
score queens, and threescore concubines, and maidens (ala- 
moth, the plural of alma) without number." In this passage 
the queens are the daughters of the neighbouring kings, 
whom Solomon had married. The concubines are the 
women of lower rank, whom he had espoused in a less solemn 
manner; and the young women (alamoth) acted as musi- 
cians, perfumers, &c, in the Oriental fashion. 

The alma in Isaiah was Isaiah's wife, as is expressly stated 
in c. viii. 3, "And I approached unto the prophetess, and 
she conceived, and bare a son." This son receives a name 
which is applicable to the situation of the people, for he is 
called Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which signifies " haste, booty, 
speed, pillage," " for before the child shall have knowledge 
to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus 
and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the 
king of Assyria" (v. 4). Gesenius, who considers the trans- 
lation in Matthew to be incorrect, observes that even if alma 
did signify a virgin, there would be no miracle unless Mary 
continued virgin after the birth of a child, which it is evi- 
dent she did not, for she went through the days of her 
purification like any other woman who had given birth to a 
child (Luke ii. 22). 

The Jews, according to the Talmud and the Michaschim, 
expected that there would be terrible and devastating wars 
before the coming of the Messiah, conducted by Gog and 
Magog, during which all impious persons would perish 
(Treatise Soucca, fol. 52% Yebamoth, 62% Aboda- Zara, 5% 
and Midda, 13 b ). Orobio, a learned Jew, maintains, however, 



THE CAVE AT BETHLEHEM. 65 

that belief in the Messiah is not founded upon any Jewish 
boob, but that it was only a name given to the great and 
powerful of the earth. Thus Isaiah gives this title to Cyrus ; 
Ezekiel gives it to the king of Tyre ; Saul is called " the 
Lord's anointed," and Herod in later times was held to be 
the Messiah by the sect called Herodians. 

In Luke ii. 7 it is said that Mary, being at an inn in 
Bethlehem, laid the infant Jesus " in a manger, because there 
was no room for him in the inn." In other words, the inn 
being full, Mary was obliged to lay the child in a manger 
in a stable attached to the inn. This does away with the 
legend of the birth of Christ in a cave, which is of great 
antiquity. Justin has proved, to his own satisfaction, that 
Christ must be born at Bethlehem from the Septuagint 
version of Isa. xxxiii. 16, "And he shall dwell in a cavern 
placed on high, made of very hard stone," from which he 
concludes that Christ was born in a grotto near Bethlehem 
(Dial, cum Tryph., c. 77). This portion of Isaiah is, however, 
not written by that prophet, but by a writer who lived after 
the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. The Protevangelion 
(xii. 12 et seqq.) says that Mary said to Joseph, " Joseph, take 
me down, for that which is within me mightily presses me. 
And Joseph took her down. And he found there a cave, and 
let her into it." The visit of the Magi, &c, follows, and 
finally Mary, alarmed at hearing that Herod was about to 
kill all the children in Bethlehem, " took the child, and 
wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in an ox- 
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn " 
(xvi. 2) . The cave at Bethlehem which is shown as that in 
which Christ was born, according to the Protevangelion, is the 
cave in which Adonis was formerly worshipped ! Jerome (Epist. 
ad Paulin., p. 564) says, " Bethleem nunc nostrum et augus- 
tissimum orbis locum de quo Psalmista canit. Veritas de 
terra orta est, lucus inumbrabat Thamus, id est, Adonidis ; et 
in specu ubi quondam Christus parvulus vagiit, Veneris 
Amasius planebatur." The ceremonies in the church of the 
Nativity at Bethlehem are celebrated in this cave, and Dr. 
Clarke says that they are nearly the same as were celebrated 
in honour of Adonis in the time of Tertullian and Jerome. 
This cave had existed at Bethlehem from time immemorial, 
and Eusebius says that the Emperor Adrian caused a temple 
to be builfc over it in honour of Adonis. 

F 



66 GOSPEL HISTOEY. 

The circumcision of Christ is only mentioned in the third 
Gospel. In c. II. 21, it is said that the name of Jesus (which 
was a very common one among the Jews) was given to the 
child by the angel, " before he was conceived in the womb." 
This is in conformity with what is said in Pirke E. Eliezer, 
33 ; " Six men's names have been given before they were 
born, viz., Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the 
name of Messiah the king." This applies to the Messianic 
office generally, but it nevertheless shows that the name of 
the Messiah was supposed to be settled beforehand. The 
author, no doubt, had these instances in his mind. 

It was of great consequence to the Judseo-Christians that 
the Messiah should have been circumcised, in other words 
that he should be a Jew. If, however, the ceremony had 
really taken place Jesus would, according to Jewish custom, 
have derived his name from the place of his birth, and have 
been called Jesus of Bethlehem, or of Nazareth. The name 
Jesus is in reality Joshua, which signifies literally a pre- 
server, a deliverer ; and the LXX. always write 'Itjo-ovs for 
Joshua, as is also done in the English version (see Acts vii. 
45 ; Heb. iv. 8). In c. ii. of the First Gospel of the Infancy 
we are told that Christ was circumcised in the cave ; that 
after two days he was taken to Jerusalem; that on the 
fortieth day from his birth he was presented in the Temple ; 
and that the proper offerings were made for him " according 
to the law of Moses — namely, that every male which opens 
the womb shall be called holy unto God (Exod. xiii. 2, &c. : 
conf. Luke ii. 23). To this is added in Luke a sacrifice 
which is enjoined in Lev. xii. 6, 8, after the days of purifi- 
cation are accomplished. 

Circumcision was long supposed to be an exclusively 
Jewish rite, and it is represented in Gen. xvii. 10 et sqq. 
as being first given to Abraham by God himself as a token 
of the covenant between them. In that passage (v. 24) it is 
distinctly laid down that an uncircumcised male child should 
be cut off from the people. This practice was as common 
among the heathen as among the Jews. Jer. ix. 24, 25, 
shows that some of the seven Canaanitish nations were cir- 
cumcised. The Arabians used to circumcise at thirteen years 
of age (conf. Gen. xvii. 25). Strabo thinks that the practice 
originated in Ethiopia, and he quotes a passage from Arte- 
midorus which shows that the operation was differently per- 



CIRCUMCISION NOT A MOSAIC INSTITUTION. 67 

formed in Egypt from what it was among the Arab tribes. 
The practice of excision is believed to have also existed 
among the Jews, as it still does among the Copts and 
Abyssinians, though they are Christians, and among several 
of the Arab tribes. Herodotns (II. 3) says that the inhabit- 
ants of Colchis, the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and the 
inhabitants of Palestine submitted to this operation for 
sanitary reasons, and that it was also practised by the Phoe- 
nicians nntil they discontinued it in consequence of their 
intercourse with Greece. In 1. VI. c. 104, Herodotus says 
that "the Syrians of Palestine acknowledged that they 
adopted this rite from the Egyptians." 

It is remarkable that Moses is not represented as regard- 
ing this rite as a sign of a covenant with God. On the con- 
trary, he hesitates a long time before circumcising his sons, 
and only decides upon doing so long after the eighth day 
from the birth (Exod. iv. 25, 26). It is not enjoined either 
in the Decalogue or in the commands attributed to Moses. 
The only two passages in which Moses appears to speak of 
it are interpolations. Lev. xii. 3 is an evident interpolation, 
for it is the uncleanness of the mother alone that is in 
question, and it is not conceivable that so important a law 
should be mentioned in so incidental a manner. In Exod. 
xii. 48 it is ordered that no uncircumcised person shall eat 
of the Passover, but as Moses never enjoined the practice, 
this is unintelligible. It is certain from Josh. v. 2-4, that 
no Jew was circumcised during the whole forty years that 
they are said to have remained in the desert. 

Circumcision, however, had become the general practice 
long before the Christian era, and Eusebius and Sulpitius 
Severus both state positively that up to the time of the de- 
struction of Jewish nationality under Adrian, that is, up to 
about a.d. 135, the Church at Jerusalem was composed 
entirely of circumcised bishops and laity. Eusebius reckons 
fifteen bishops up to that period, who were all Jews both by 
birth and by circumcision (etc TrsptTOfirjs), and says that the 
rest of the Church consisted entirely of believing Jews, if 
'Eftpaicov ttkjtwv (H. E. IY. 5, 6 ; Y. 12). Sulpitius Severus 
(Hist. Sacr. 11.31) says: "Turn Hierosolymge nonnisi ex 
circumcisione habebat Ecclesia sacerdotem. . . . Quia turn 
pene omnes Christum Deum sub legis observatione crede- 
bant." Jerome says that the primitive Church at Alex- 

F 2 



68 GOSPEL HISTOEY. 

andria was also Jewish — " Primam Ecclesiam adhuc judaiz- 
antem " (De Yir. Illustr. c. 8). Eusebius (1. IV. c. 6) records 
the appointment of the first uncircumcised bishop of Jeru- 
salem as follows : — 

" In the eighteenth year of the reign of Adrian [a.d. 135], 
when the war had reached its height at the city of Bethara, 
a very strong fortress, not very far from Jerusalem, the siege 
was continued for some time, and the revolters were driven 
to the last extreme by hunger and famine. The author of 
their madness had also suffered his just punishment, and the 
whole nation, from that time, were totally prohibited, by 
the decree and commands of Adrian, from ever entering the 
country about Jerusalem, so that they could not behold the 
soil of their fathers, even at a distance. Such is the state- 
ment of Aristo of Pella. The city of the Jews being thus 
reduced to a state of abandonment for them, and totally 
stripped of its ancient inhabitants, and also inhabited by 
strangers, was called JElia, in honour of the Emperor iElius 
Adrian ; and when the Church of the Gentiles was collected 
there, the first bishop after those of the circumcision was 
called Marcus." From this period the Gentile element began 
to predominate in the Church, and Judseo- Christian works, 
such as the Apocalypse of Peter, which Sozomenes says 
was read in the churches of Palestine ; which was publicly 
read at Rome towards the close of the second century ; which 
Clemens Alexandrinus, and Methudius bishop of Tyre (circa 
a.d. 312) placed among the inspired writings ; and which is 
mentioned in the Sinaitic index of the sacred books, fell into 
disrepute. 

The narrative in Matthew contradicts that in Luke (ii. 17, 
20), according to which the shepherds "made known abroad" 
what the Angels had told them respecting Christ, for it says 
that nothing was known of the birth of Jesus until a star 
revealed it to certain Magi. This revelation by means of a 
star is inserted here on account of a prophecy said to have 
been uttered by Balaam (Numb, xxiv., 17), " There 'shall 
come a star out of Jacob," &c, which several rabbis held to 
refer to the Messiah. It is said, however, that this star is to 
" smite the sides of Moab, and destroy all the children of tu- 
mult," and do many other things which cannot possibly apply 
to the Messiah. The word "star" (Heb. Cocab) is believed 
to be the origin of the name Maccabee, which was borne by 



THE MESSIANIC STAR. 69 

Judas Maccabseus and his family, whose successors placed a 
star on their coins. In the latter part of the verse ei those 
that remain in the city " signify the Hellenist party, who still 
held the citadel of Jerusalem at the time it was written. The 
expectation of a star was, however, not founded on this pro- 
phecy only. In the Testamentum XII. Patriarcharum it is 
said, Kal dvarsXsl aajpov avrov (of the Messianic ispsvs kcuvos) 
sv ovpava) . . . cj)coTi£ov (pco? yvcbaSGt)?, k. t. \. In Pesihta 
Satarfca, f. 48, it is said " Et prodibit stella ab oriente, quee 
est stella Messise, et in oriente versabitur dies quindecim." The 
birth of Abraham was also believed to have been heralded 
by a star. Jalkut Eutuni, f. 32, 3, says, " Qua hora natus est 
Abrahamus pater noster, super quern sit pax, stetit quoddam 
sidus in oriente, et deglutivit quatuor astra quse sunt in 
quatuor coeli plagis." An Arabian author named Maallem 
says that this wonderful star, which swallowed up four others, 
was seen by Nimrod. 

The account in Matthew differs greatly from that in the 
Protevangelion. In the latter the Magi came to Bethlehem, 
not to Jerusalem, where they could have had no business; 
and thus the unnatural movement of the star from north to 
south (instead of from east to west like all other stars) as 
represented in Matthew is avoided. When they arrive at Beth- 
lehem, Herod sends messengers to them and to the priests, 
and inquires of them what sign it was they saw. They an- 
swer : " We saw an extraordinarily large star shining among 
the stars of heaven, and it so outshined all the other stars 
that they became not visible, and we knew thereby that a 
great king was born in Israel, and therefore are we come to 
worship him" (c. xv. 7). Herod tells them to make inquiry, 
and if they find the child to bring him word, that he might 
come and worship him also (conf. Matt. ii. 8) ; though it is 
not apparent why Herod should wish to worship a Jewish 
king. The rest of the account is identical with that in 
Matthew, except the words in brackets : — 

" So the wise men went forth and beheld the star which 
they saw in the east before them, till it came and stood over 
[the cave] where the young child was with Mary, his mother. 
Then they brought forth out of their treasures, and offered 
unto him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being 
warned in a dream [by an angel] that they should not return 
to Herod [through Judiea] they departed into their own 



70 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

country by another way" (xv. 9-11). In Matt. iL 11 "the 
house" is substituted for "the cave/ 5 but there is not a word 
about the stable or the manger. 

It is wholly unintelligible from Matthew's gospel why the 
Magi, or Magians, who were idolaters, should have been the 
first to announce to the Jews that their Messiah was born. 
The first Gospel of the Infancy explains that they came in 
consequence of a prophecy by Zoradascht (Zoroaster). The 
priests of Zoroaster, therefore, the worshippers of Mithra, or 
the Sun, come to offer to the person foretold by that prophet 
the identical three gifts which they used to offer to the sun, 
viz., gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Plutarch (De Iside) 
speaks of the connection between myrrh and the sun and 
moon ; and Adonis, in whose cave Christ is supposed to be 
born, was said to have sprung from the incestuous intercourse 
of Myrrha with her father Cynirus, and she was afterwards 
changed into a tree of that name, which was consecrated to 
the sun. Justin explains why the stable was substituted for 
the cave. After observing that Mithra was born in a grotto 
and Christ in a stable, he says (Dial, cum Tryph.) "He was 
born on the day that the sun was born, in stabulo Augise," 
that is, in the station of the Celestial Goat, to which the 
stable of Augias, in the sixth labour of Hercules, corre- 
sponded in the sphere of the labours of Hercules. Justin 
adds that Christ, after being born in a stable, took refuge in 
a grotto. 

In the time of Leo I. (Leo. Serm. xxi. De Nativ. Dom. 
p. 148) some of the Fathers of the Church said that "what 
rendered the festival [of Christmas] venerable was less the 
birth of Jesus Christ than the return and, as they expressed 
it, the new birth of the sun. The birth of the Invincible 
Sun (Natalis Solis Invicti) was celebrated at Rome on the 
same day, as may be seen in the Eoman Calendar published 
in the reign of Constantine and of Julian (Hymn to the 
Sun, p. 155). This epithet "invictus" is the same as the 
Persians give to this god, whom they worshipped by the 
name of Mithra, and whom, as Justin observes, they caused 
to be born in a grotto, just as he is represented as being born 
in a stable, under the name of Christ, in the gospels. 

The Eoman calendar above mentioned is printed in Father 
Petau's Uranologia (vol. iii. p. 72). On the 8th of the 
kalends of January the words N. invicti, C. M. xxiiii. occur, 



THE BIRTH OF CHRIST AT BETHLEHEM. 71 

that is the birth-day of the Invincible One. Father Petau 
in his notes on the hymn of the Emperor Julian to the Sun 
lays great stress on this correspondence between the birth- 
day of Christ and the ancient festivals of the birth-day of 
the sun, and refers to his work called ( Auctarium.' He ex- 
plains the letters C. M. to signify Circenses missi. The 
Emperor Julian speaks of the solar festivals which were 
held at this period of the year. He says (Hymn, ad Solem, 
p. 292), " Some days before the first day of the year we have 
magnificent games in honour of the sun, to whom we give 
the title of Invincible. Why cannot I have the happiness 
of celebrating them often, Sun, King of the Universe, 
Thou whom the supreme Deity engendered from all eternity 
out of his pure substance ? " 

Father Petau observes that the Eomans also called Jupiter 
Invincible, and on ancient coins a young child may be seen 
seated on a goat, or in the sign in which the sun began his 
course in the solstice, with the legend " Jovi crescenti," 
which can only apply to the sun, or to the Invincible Grod, 
who begins to increase in this sign. As Beausobre (1. 2, 
p. 798) has remarked, the two equinoxes and the two solstices 
are marked by two conceptions and two births. John the 
Baptist is conceived on the 24th of September, and is born 
on the 24th of June. Christ is conceived on the 25th of 
March, and is born on the 25th of December. 

The birth of Christ at Bethlehem is said (Matt. ii. 5) to 
be prophesied by Micah. In John vii. 40 et sqq. this is 
contradicted, for it is there stated that Christ came out of 
Galilee, and the people are represented as not believing 
on him because he ought to have come from the village 
(fcco{j,r)s) of Bethlehem, "where David was" (v. 42). The 
portion of Micah here referred to is an addition made in the 
time of Zerubbabel. In Isa. ii. 2-4, a passage which was 
also written at this period, some of the words in this portion 
of Micah are repeated. The prophecy is incorrectly quoted 
from the LXX., for yfj 'lovha " in the land of Juda" is written 
instead of ol/cos rod v E<ppa6a, " of the house of Ephratah," 
and he has inserted a word, ovScl/jlws " by no means," which 
is not translated in the English version, and which cannot be 
found either in the LXX. or in the Hebrew text. In the 
prophet the contrast is made as follows : " From the little 
house of Ephratah something great, namely, the fifth king 1 



72 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

of Israel, shall proceed." The Babbinistic spirit found 
" little " an unsuitable word for the birth-place of the Mes- 
siah, and, therefore, " little " was changed into " by no 
means the least." 

The Gospel of the Infancy says that the Magi were guided 
home by an angel in the form of the star which had guided 
them on their journey, and that Herod, perceiving that they 
did not return, called the priests and wise men together, and 
finding that Bethlehem was to be the birth-place of Christ, 
began to contrive his death in his own mind. An angel, 
however, appeared to Joseph, telling him to fly to Egypt 
with the child and his mother as soon as the cock crowed 
(iv. 14). In Matthew Joseph is made to remain in Egypt 
until the death of Herod, in order that a prophecy in Hosea 
might be fulfilled. The writer has here deliberately quoted 
from the Hebrew text, for the LXX. have ra iskvcl clvtov, 
" his children," instead of top vlov /jlov, " my son%" The former 
would not have suited the purpose of the evangelist. 

The massacre of the children is thus described in the Pro- 
tevangelion (xvi. 7) : " Then Herod, perceiving that he was 
mocked by the wise men, and being very angry, commanded 
certain men to go and kill all the children that were in 
Bethlehem, from two years old and under." In Matthew 
(ii. 16) there is added to this, " and in all the coasts thereof," 
the writer being evidently under the impression that Beth- 
lehem was on a lake. Justin (Dial, cum Tryph., c. 78) goes 
much farther than Matthew, for he says that "Herod, not 
being able to find the child whom the Magi came to worship, 
caused all the children in Bethlehem to be massacred without 
exception ! " (air\a>s) . If this massacre had ever really 
taken place the fathers and mothers of these innocent child- 
ren would certainly have appealed to Cyrenius against so 
frightful a crime. Neither Tacitus, nor any contemporary 
historian, mention it. Josephus and the Eabbis, who were 
violent against Herod, are silent respecting it. Macrobius, 
who lived in the fourth century, is the only heathen author 
who can be quoted to support the story. Voltaire (Diet. 
Phil., t. 4) however says that the ancient copies of Macrobius 
did not contain this passage. Independently of this damaging 
fact, the passage cannot possibly relate to this massacre, for 
it confounds the execution of Herod's son Antipater, men- 
tioned by Josephus, with the massacre of the children at 






THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS UNHISTORICAL. 73 

Bethlehein. Antipater liiniself was so little of a child tliat 
lie complained that he was becoming gray-headed, and 
Herod's other sons, Alexander and Aristobnlus, whom he 
cansed to be put to death, were both grown-up men. 

The passage in Macrobius is as follows : " Cum audisset 
inter pueros quos in Syria Herodes rex Judseorum intra 
bimatum jussit interfui filium quoque ejus occisum, ait, 
Melius est Herodi porcum esse quam filium." (Macrob. Sat., 
1. II. c. 4.) Scaliger, however (ad Euseb. p. 163), is justly 
sceptical as to such an expression having been made use of 
by Augustus, for the very intelligible reason that Augustus 
himself approved of and confirmed the capital sentence 
which had been passed upon Herod's three sons ! The 
original story is in JElian (Y. H., XII, 56) : A^oysiys 6 
^ivoottsos aXsys ttoXXol ir\v d/JbaOlav koI rrjv airaihovaiav twv 
Msyapscov SiaffaXXcov, kcli e/3ovXsto Wlsyapsoos avSpbs xpibs zivai 
fidXXov r) vios. It is pretended (Matt. ii. 17, 18) that this 
massacre is a fulfilment of Jer. xxxi. 15, but this portion of 
Jeremiah is an addition by an unknown author, refers to 
the bringing back of the Jews from Babylon, and has no 
prophetic meaning whatever. The text follows the LXX. so 
far that in oBvp/ubs ttoXvs (Heb. D"j-l"ion) (which is omitted in 
the Codex Sinaiticus) the influence of a Targum is evident, 
the traces of which are still to be found in Jonathan P3T) Vtf?3. 

Matt. ii. 19, 20 is the parallel passage to Exod. iv. 19 
(LXX.). In the Gospel of the Infancy it is said that after 
dwelling three years in Egypt the family returned without 
any angelic warning, but that when Joseph came near Judaea 
he was afraid to enter, because he heard that Archelaus 
reigned in Judaea in his father's stead. An angel, however, 
appeared to him, and said, " Joseph, go into the city of 
Nazareth, and dwell there." There is an addition to this 
in Matthew, to the effect that this was done " that it might 
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, He shall be 
called a Xazarite," not a Nazarene, as it is commonly translated 
in the English version. This name does not mean the 
Hebrew TO (Isa. xi. 1), where a ISTazar, or branch, is spoken 
of, but only the sound of Nafypahs, LXX. ("»pD) Judges xiii. 5. 
This is also the spelling of Nazarite in Lam. iv. 7, and it is 
evident that the writer had the passage in Judges in view, 
from the parallel formulas t'Sou, iu ryacnpl e%sl kol rsfyj vlbv 
(conf. Judg. xiii. 5, 7, with Matt. i. 21, 23). Na&pah$ 



74 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

signifies a Nazarite. If the writer had intended to speak of 
Jesus as an inhabitant of Nazareth, he would have used the 
word Na&prjvos. The marginal reference in our New Testa- 
ments to Judges xiii. 5, shows that this is an acknowledged 
mis-translation. Jesus, however, never was a Nazarite in the 
sense that Samson and others were, for in Matt. xi. 19 we 
are told that he came eating and drinking, and was accused 
of being gluttonous and a wine-bibber, nor is there any such 
passage in any of " the prophets " as " He shall be called a 
Nazarite." 

Luke (i. 26) makes the city of Nazareth to be the place of 
residence of Joseph and Mary. In c. ii. 4 he says that they 
went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be taxed, and in 
v. 39 that they returned to Nazareth as to their own city (ttoXls 
avTwv). In Matthew this is all altered. Bethlehem is repre- 
sented as their place of residence, and the birth-place of Christ 
(ii. 1), and Joseph fixes his residence in " a city called Naza- 
reth" (v. 23), solely in consequence of being warned of God 
in a dream. In John i. 46 et sqq., on the contrary, Naza- 
reth is said to be the birth-place of Jesus, as it is also in 
Mark vi. 1, and Matt. xiii. 54, in both which passages it is 
called "his own country" (Trarpls). In Luke xviii. 37 how- 
ever, he is called a Nazarite, 'l^crovs 6 Nafapacos, and in the 
inscription on the cross (John xix. 19) he is also called Jesus 
the Nazarite, which must be considered decisive as to the 
true appellation of Jesus, especially as after his death the 
apostles preached "Jesus the Nazarite" (Acts ii. 22), and 
performed miracles in the name of " Jesus the Nazarite " 
(A.cts iii. 6). John (vi. 4) says that the people objected to his 
coming from Galilee, and said that he ought to have come 
" out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was." Nath- 
anael (i. 46) had previously made the same objection, but was 
allowed to remain under the impression that Jesus was born 
at Nazareth, as Philip (v. 45) had previously told him. 
There is not, however, the slightest historical evidence to 
show that Nazareth was despised at that time. The fact 
remains that, with the single exception of Matt, ii., the 
canonical gospels unanimously state that Jesus was born at 
Nazareth, and not at Bethlehem, thus doing away with the 
visit of the Magi, the massacre of the children a/fc Bethlehem, 
and the flight into Egypt. But there is no historical evidence 
that such a place as Nazareth existed until the first half of the 



CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 75 

fourth century. Josephus enumerates many of the towns and 
villages which existed in this district, but says nothing about 
Nazareth ; yet Jotapata, the site of which has been identified, 
and which was the head-quarters of the army which he com- 
manded during the early part of the Jewish war, was situated 
close to where this " city " is said to have existed. The 
whole appears to be a mere play upon words. Jesus was a 
Nazara (a Nazarite), which was identical in the Palestinian 
dialect of the time, and in its Greek equivalent, with Naza- 
rene or Nazarite. The followers of Jesus were long called 
Nazarenes or Nazarites, as they are still called in Syria and 
other parts of Western Asia, and it was only at a later period 
that this became the denomination of an heretical sect 
(Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 8; Epiph. Hseres., xxix. 1). It is 
remarkable that there was another Bethlehem (Josh. xix. 5) 
within a few miles of the spot where Nazareth is said to have 
been. 

The first event in the life of Jesus, according to Luke 
(ii. 42), is his visit to Jerusalem with his parents at the feast 
of the Passover, when he was twelve years of age. On this 
occasion his parents lost sight of him for three days, after 
which they found him in the temple, " sitting in the midst 
of the doctors, both hearing and asking them questions." 
This bringing up of Jesus to Jerusalem is in accordance with 
Exod. xxxiv., 23, " Thrice in every year shall all your men 
children appear before the Lord God." This, therefore, 
ought to have been neither his first nor his last appearance 
in Jerusalem, but according to both Luke and the Gospel of 
the Infancy, we must assume that it was. The latter gospel 
says nothing about his being missed on the journey. 

All Jewish children were taught to read by the hazzan or 
reader of the synagogues, which existed in all the Jewish 
towns. It is surprising, therefore, to hear that after Jesus 
had been baptized and had taught frequently in the syna- 
gogues and the temple, he " never learned letters." (John 
vii. 15.) His mental superiority is the same as that attri- 
buted to Moses, and his resorting to the temple to confer 
with the doctors instead of engaging in the pastimes usual 
at his age, was also, according to Philo (De Vita Mos.), 
characteristic of Moses, who, after conferring with many 
doctors, outstripped them all by the mere force of his genius. 
According to tradition Moses also left his father's house at 



76 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



twelve years of age. Thus E. Chama says " Moses duode- 
narius avulsus est a domo patris sui." Twelve years of age 
was also considered to be the period when a boy attained to 
maturity. Thus in Treatise Chagiza it is said, " A xii. 
annis filius censitur maturus," and the same is said in 
Treatise Joma, f. 82, 1, and Berachoth, f. 24, 1. Samuel 
also prophesied, according to tradition, from his twelfth year 
(Jos. Ant. v. 16, 4), and Ignatius (Ep. [interpol.] ad Magnes., 
c. III.) says that the judgments delivered by Solomon 
(1 Kings iii. 23 sqq.) and Daniel (Susanna, v. 45, sqq.) 
were uttered when these personages were twelve years old. 



DATE OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, 77 



CHAPTER II. 

John the Baptist is said by Luke to have appeared in the 
fifteenth year of Tiberius. The reign of Tiberius began 
a.d. 14, therefore John must have appeared in a.d. 29. Luke 
iii. 23, " And Jesus himself was, when he began, about thirty 
years of age" [Cod. Sin.], shows that according to this gospel 
Jesus must have been born in the year B.C. 2 or 1, supposing 
that he was baptized by John, in the same year that he 
himself appeared. This, however, is impossible, for we are 
told that John had a great number of disciples to whom he 
had given forms of prayer (John iv. 1 ; Luke xi. 1). John, 
we are told, was cast into prison immediately after the temp- 
tation of Jesus (Matt. iv. 12 ; Mark i. 14), and therefore his 
preaching must have preceded that event, and the baptism 
of Jesus. In Luke i. 5, it is stated positively that John was 
born in the days of Herod the Great. Now as Herod died in 
the spring of B.C. 3, if we are to take the Gospel statements 
we must, even upon the supposition that the massacre at 
Bethlehem took place in the last year of Herod's existence, 
add two years to that time, because it is evident from them 
that Jesus might have been two years old at that time. This 
brings us to B.C. 5, and therefore John would be at least 
thirty-four years of age at this period. Even upon this 
supposition, however, he would be a very young man, and 
one whom it would be impossible to mistake for the prophet 
Elias. 

The date of John's birth is of course nearly identical with 
that of the birth of Christ. Eusebius (H. E. I. 5) says that 
this event took place in " the forty-second year of the reign 
of Augustus, and the twenty-eighth from the subjugation of 
Egypt and the death of Antony and Cleopatra, when, 
according to prophetic prediction, our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judsea." This state- 
ment is not very creditable to the accuracy of Eusebius, for 



78 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Augustus did not begin his reign till B.C. 30, and therefore 
Christ would not be born, according to him, till a.d. 12. 
Cleopatra, however, died in B.C. 30, and twenty-eight years 
from this would bring us to B.C. 2 as the date of Christ's 
birth according to Eusebius, which is unfortunately just one 
year after the death of Herod. Eusebius goes on to say that 
Christ was born in the same year when the first census was 
taken, and Quirinius (Cyrenius) was governor of Syria. This 
refers to the statement in Luke ii. 1, that it took place after 
a decree had been issued by Csesar Augustus that the whole 
inhabited world, iraaav tt)v oIkov/jlsvtjv, should be registered, 
a7roypd(psa0at, for the purpose of taxation. Matthew implies 
(ii. 19) that Jesus was born some time before the death of 
Herod the Great, for he says that Herod died while Joseph 
and his family were in Egypt. Josephus (Ant. xvii. 8) says 
that Herod died in the early part of April in the year 
of Rome 750 (b.c. 3), at Jericho, five days after the execu- 
tion of his son Antipater, who had conspired against him. 
The execution of his other two sons, who were the victims 
of the intrigues of Salome against them, and whose 
unmerited fate may have given rise to the story of the 
massacre at Bethlehem, took place at Samaria in the year 
B.C. 6. 

Herod's son and successor, Archelaus, had reigned about 
ten years, when he was deposed and banished by Augustus 
(a.d. 6), after which Judaea became a Roman province. As 
Herod died in B.C. 3, the registering according to the Gospel 
account must have taken place in B.C. 4 or 5. But the re- 
gistering or census made by Quirinius did not take place till 
a.d. 7, when Judsea was included in the imperial domain 
after the deposition of Archelaus. It is mentioned by Jo- 
sephus, who says distinctly that Quirinius was sent to 
govern " in consequence of the country governed by Arche- 
laus having been made subject to the government of Syria," 
rrjs 'Ap^sXaov ywpas sis sirapyjav TrspvypcMpclcrrjs, or viroTskovs 
wepLypcupslays rfj ^vpi'cov, and who also says (Ant. XVIII. 1,1) 
that this census was confined to Judsea, therefore it did not 
extend to Galilee, over which Herod Antipas continued to 
rule as a prince in alliance with Rome. It follows of course 
that none of his subjects could be summoned to Bethlehem 
for the census. 

In the Protevangelion (XII. 1) it is said, " And it came to 



THE TAXING OF JOSEPH UNHISTORICAL. 79 

pass that there went forth a decree from the Emperor 
Augustus that all the Jews should be taxed who were of 
Bethlehem in Judsea ;" and in the Gospel of the Infancy it 
is said : "In the three hundred and ninth year of the era of 
Alexander, Augustus published a decree that all persons 
should go to be taxed in their own country." This, if we 
take the era of Alexander to signify the date of his accession, 
is partially correct, for a decree of Augustus did order an 
enumeration of the people to take place at that time, viz. 
B.C. 27. 

The assertion that Joseph went up like the rest, " every 
one into his own city," sis rrjv IStav iro\iv^ because he was of 
the house and family of David, whose city Bethlehem was, 
is erroneous, for this was a Jewish, not a Roman, custom. 
The Romans always carried on the census in the places 
where the persons resided, and in the chief towns of the 
various districts, for they only conformed to the customs of 
the vanquished nations as far as suited them ; and to cause 
the whole population to move to places where it would be 
impossible to test the truth of their declarations, would be 
contrary to their object. In Luke Mary is made to go up to 
be taxed with her husband. This is another error. Accord- 
ing to the Jewish custom the men alone were enumerated, 
and according to the Roman custom the names only of the 
women and children were required, and the husbands did not 
take them with them. 

In a.d. 14 Augustus composed and caused to be engraven 
on bronze tablets an epitome of his public acts, in order that 
they might be sculptured on his mausoleum at Rome. This 
circumstance, which occurred only a few weeks before his 
death, is mentioned by Suetonius. A copy of this inscrip- 
tion is still extant in the ruined temple of Augustus and 
Rome at Ancyra, with a Greek version on the outside. In 
this inscription the enumerations of Roman citizens which 
took place during his reign are mentioned, and therefore, if 
there had been a decree that the whole inhabited world 
should be taxed, it would certainly be found there. As this 
is not the case, it must be considered as proved that no such 
taxing ever took place, nor is it at al] credible that it 
should. The three enumerations which did take place were 
not for the purpose of taxation, and only contained, as might 
be expected, the names of those who enjoyed the privileges 



80 GOSFEL HISTORY. 

of Boinan citizenship. The dates of them are B.C. 27, B.C. 7, 
and a.d. 14. 

Mark i. 4 contains the simple statement that John bap- 
tized in the wilderness. In Luke iii. 2 it is said that the 
word of God came to him in the wilderness, thus contradict- 
ing c. i. 15, which says that he should be filled with the 
Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. It was taught 
among a portion of the Jews at this time that the Messiah 
must have a precursor, and Mark ix. 11 shows that this was 
a foregone conclusion. It was also held to be essential that 
the Jews should have repented before the Messiah came. 
Thus, in Sanhedr. f. xcvii. 1, it is said, " E. Eliezer dixit, Si 
Israelite pcenitentiam agunt, turn per Goelem liberantur ; sin 
vero, non liberantur." This is why the gospels begin with a 
baptism of the people by John. The followers of Philo gave a 
superhuman form to the Messiah. They made him to be a 
species of angel, who was only visible to pious individuals, 
and who was to bring the descendants of Jacob back from 
Greece and other Gentile countries. They also thought 
that, when the Messiah came, they would be prepared to 
receive him by a patriarchal holiness of life, and by a puri- 
fied state of mind, which would render their participation in 
divine grace certain (Philo de Execrat.). Then grace would 
again flow as from an eternal spring ; the towns which had 
been deserted would again become populous ; the deserts 
would turn into fertile fields, and the prayers of the living 
would bring the dead to life again. 

It was among the Essenes, however, that the Messianic 
idea was developed in the most spiritual manner. Their 
ascetic mode of life was intended to advance the " kingdom 
of heaven" (Malchuth Schammaim) and the knowledge of the 
future world (Olam-ha-Ba). Anyone who claimed to be 
the Messiah must, according to their ideas, be without sin. 
He must have renounced the world and its vanities ; he must 
have proved that he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Rouah- 
ha-kadesch) ; he must possess power over the devils ; and 
must have adopted a mode of life in which community of 
goods was recognised, and in which poverty and contempt of 
wealth were considered to be the greatest of virtues. The 
Samaritans expect a Messiah who is called Hotah, or Hos- 
hah, the restorer, whom they commonly call Taebah; but 
they only regard him as a man, and as inferior to Moses, 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 81 

whose law it will be his duty to restore- The Taebah is to 
be a son of Joseph, of the tribe of Ephraim, and they expect 
him about a.d. 1910. They say that the Jews, since the Cap- 
tivity, are a mixed people, and that they have falsified their 
own history. They also say that the real reading of Gen. 
xlix. 10 is not Shiloh, bnt Shulah, and that it refers to 
Solomon, who transferred the Tabernacle from Mount Geri- 
zim to Jerusalem, thus rendering Ephraim and Judah anta- 
gonistic to each other, the former adhering to the Mosaic 
law, and the latter introducing all sorts of innovations. 

Josephus (Ant. xviii. 5, 2) says that John the Baptist 
induced the Jews, " practising virtue, just to one another, 
and pure towards God," to come and be baptized. These 
unions for baptism, however, gave rise to an amount of poli- 
tical and religious excitement which, Josephus says, caused 
Antipas to fear that a revolution might be brought about by 
John ; and this fear led to his imprisonment, and ultimately 
to his execution. Baptism had become a sort of initiatory 
ceremony for proselytes who wished to embrace the Jewish 
faith (Mischna, Pesachim, viii. 5 ; Talm. of Babylon, Jeba- 
moth, 466, &c.) Mosheim (Comm. Cent. I. sect. 6) has shown 
that baptism was an old ceremony of the Israelites long 
before the Christian era. After baptism they received the 
sign of the cross, were anointed, and fed with milk and 
honey (ib. Cent. II. c. iv. sect. 13). The Essenes were called 
Baptists (Toble schahenith). 

The account of the baptism of Jesus by John differs from 
that in the Gospel to the Hebrews, as quoted by Epiphanius 
(H£er. 1. xv.), and which is as follows : 

"And when he went up out of the water the heavens were 
opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit of God, in the form of 
a dove, &c, and a voice was heard, &c, and immediately 
a great light shone about the place, at the sight of which 
John said unto him, Who art thou, Lord ? And again a 
voice, &c, and immediately John, falling at his feet, said, I 
pray thee, Lord, baptize me." 

The baptism of John consisted, according to the Fathers, 
in three immersions of the whole body in water, but the 
gospels merely state that Jesus " went up out of the water." 
Mark i. 11 is made up from Psalm ii. 7, and Isaiah xlii. 1. 
Justin, however, gives a different version, taken from the 
memorials of the Apostles, which represent the voice as 

a 



82 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

saying, T/o? fiov el av * iyco o-rj/Lispov ysyovrjKa <ts, " Tliou art my 
son : this day have I begotten thee." This is identi- 
cal with Ps. ii. 7, but wonld not snit gospels which stated 
that Jesus had been already endowed with supernatural 
powers, and had been miraculously begotten. It is remark- 
able that Clemens Alexandrinus (Proleg. i. 6) and Augustine 
(De Consensu Evang. ii. 14) appear to have read these 
words in copies of the canonical gospels, and some existing 
MSS. of Luke's Gospel have these words. In the fourth 
gospel all is altered, and God is represented as telling John 
(i. 32) that he would recognise Jesus by seeing the Spirit 
descending from heaven like a dove, and remaining upon him, 
and Jesus is not baptized by John at all. 

The Jew Tryphon (Justin, Dial. c. Tryph. 8) pointed out 
that baptism was not what was required on this occasion, 
but unction. He says, " If Christ is born, and exists any- 
where, he is unknown ; he does not even know himself; and 
he has no power until Elias comes and anoints him, and 
makes him visible to all." If Ps. ii. 2, and xiv. 7, are to be 
regarded as prophetic, it is clear that the Messiah was to be 
anointed with oil ; and kings are represented in the Old Tes- 
tament as being filled with the Spirit as soon as they were 
anointed (1 Sam. x. 6, 10, xvi. 13). Nothing is said, 
however, about Jesus being anointed. It is only said that 
he was baptized in the presence of the people (Luke iii. 
21), who, however, do not appear to have been at all influ- 
enced by the opening of the sky and the descent of the dove. 
This miraculous appearance is in accordance with the Jewish 
belief that the sky was a solid firmament, which must open 
before God, who lived above it, could come down to earth. 
R. Juda says (Talmud of Jerusalem) that it takes fifty 
years to pass through the firmament. " A man of moderate 
activity," he continues, "can perform a journey of forty 
miles a day ; therefore, while the sun gets to the summit of 
the firmament, a man can traverse forty miles." In another 
part of this Talmud it is said, " Rab says, e The heavens were 
moist on the first day, and dried up on the second day.' Rab 
also says that the words 'Let there be a firmament' mean, 
Let the sky be solid. After this, let it congeal, let it have 
layers, and spread itself out." 

The dove is mentioned in all the gospels, and it was not 
only the recognised form in which the Holy Spirit appeared, 



CONTRADICTIONS IN THE NARRATIVE. 83 

according to the Rabbis (see Targum Koheleth, 2, 12, where 
the voice of a dove is interpreted to mean the voice of the 
Holy Spirit) ; but it was also compared to the Spirit of God 
which moved upon the face of the waters (Gen. i. 2) . Thus 
in Treatise Chagiza, c. 2, " Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas, 
sicut columba, quae fertur super pullos suos, nee tangifc illos." 
Some understand this Spirit to be spoken of as applicable to 
the Messiah (Bereschit rabba, sect. 2, fol. 4). In Sohar 
Numer, f. 68, col. 271 sqq.,this image of the Spirit of God 
hovering like a dove over the primeval waters is connected 
with the Messiah as follows : " If David, according to Ps. lii. 
8, is the olive-tree, the Messiah, his descendant, is the olive- 
leaf : if it is said of Noah's dove that it brought an olive-leaf 
in its beak, the Messiah will be heralded into the world by a 
dove." There were, therefore, special Jewish traditions which 
rendered the appearance of a dove necessary. As to the 
celestial voice, there was nothing surprising in that to so 
credulous a people as the Jews. According to Baba Mezia, 
f. 59, 1, R. Eliezer showed that tradition was in his favour 
by a celestial sign : " Turn person uit echo cselestis : Quid vobis 
cum R. Eliesere ? Nam ubivis secundum ilium obtinet tra- 
ditio." The Talmud also speaks of a Rabbi seeing Jehovah 
Zebaoth sitting on his throne, as if it were quite an ordinary 
occurrence. 

In Matthew the very improbable statement is made that 
many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John's baptism. 
This statement is omitted by Luke, and formally contradicted 
by Matt. xxvi. 26, and Luke vii. 30, where it is expressly 
stated that the Pharisees were not baptized by John. In 
Luke iii. 7-9, the reproach, " generation of vipers," &c, 
is actually transferred from the Pharisees and Sadducees to 
the multitude. 

John the Baptist was born at Juttah, near Hebron, or 
perhaps at Hebron. The desert of Judeea was close to 
Hebron, but Matthew has placed it on the banks of the 
Jordan. Luke (iii. 4) only says that " he came into all the 
hill-country about Jordan," but in John (i. 28) the occurrences 
at the descent of the Holy Spirit are said to have taken 
place " in Bethany, beyond the river of Jordan." This is 
the reading in all the old MSS. Origen altered Bethany 
into Bethabara for no other reason than that there is no such 
place as Bethany on the other side of the Jordan ; but the 

. G 2 



84 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

MSS. are clear upon this point, and Bethabara is not "beyond 
the river of Jordan." It is clear from c. iii. 16, that a town 
on the other side of Jordan was intended, for it speaks of 
him that was with John " beyond Jordan." Persea, the dis- 
trict beyond the Jordan, was the territory of Antipas, who 
was hostile to John the Baptist, while Pilate does not seem 
to have interfered with him in Judsea. Again, in the fourth 
gospel Jesus and John are brought from the other side of the 
Jordan to Judsea (iii. 22), thus proving beyond the possibility 
of doubt that Bethabara, which is in Judsea, cannot be the 
place meant. We are then told that John and his disciples 
began to baptize, and this time it is at the place called (Enon, 
or " the fountains," near to Salim, because there was much 
water there. This was probably the place where John really 
did baptize, for there is a locality near the river called 
Ramet-el-Khalil, near Hebron, which is said to correspond 
exactly with this account. The Essenes had several colonies 
here. 

Ascetics like John were very common, and Josephus him- 
self became, in a.d. 53, the disciple of one of them, named 
Banon, who strongly resembles John, and who was probably 
one of his disciples (Yita, 2) . This Banon lived in the desert, 
was clothed with the leaves of trees, fed on wild plants or 
fruits, and baptized himself frequently. Josephus says (Ant. 
xviii. 5, 2) that great crowds, especially of persons belonging 
to the tribe of Judah, used to resort to (Enon to be bap- 
tized by John. His sect were called Hemero-Baptists, and 
were identical with the Mandaites, Nazoreans, &c, which 
still exist in the eastern countries, chiefly in the neighbour- 
hood of Bassora, and are the same sect with some slight 
shades of difference. This sect is named by St. Epiphanius, 
and is said by him to have been in existence before the time 
of Christ, and not to have known him. 

In all the gospels, except Mark, John describes himself as 
" the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight 
the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet Esaias." These 
words, however, are not written by Isaiah ; for the whole of 
this portion of Isaiah, from c. xl. to c. lix., is the production 
of some writer who lived after the return from captivity, and 
its date is some 150 years later than the real Isaiah. The 
verse quoted in the gospels relates to the return of the 
captives who had been released by Cyrus, the Lord's anointed. 



JOIIX CONTINUES TO BAPTIZE. 85 

Tlie quotation is made from the LXX., which could alone be 
of use to the writer, but he has altered " the paths of our 
God" into "his paths." The late date of these chapters of 
Isaiah is evident, not only from the historical facts which 
thej contain, but also from there being, in c. iii. 7, a quotation 
from Nahuin (i. 15) which was written on the occasion of the 
destruction of Nineveh, B.C. 612. There is, therefore, no 
pretence for saying, either that this verse was written by 
Isaiah, or that it has any prophetic meaning. In the added 
preface to Mark a quotation from Malachi is appended to it, 
which the later editor found in Matt. xi. 10, and which in 
the Codex Sinaiticus and other MSS. is attributed, as well 
as the other quotation, to " Esaias the prophet," which has 
been altered into " the prophets " by some more accurate 
editor. 

The descent of the Holy Spirit and the recognition of 
Jesus as the Lamb of God do not, to our surprise, interfere 
with John's teaching, for he continued to baptize after these 
events. It would, perhaps, have been too gross a violation 
of history to represent John as a Christian. The effect of 
this supernatural appearance upon the disciples of John is 
equally extraordinary ; for after this manifestation of Divine 
power the only question they ask Jesus is, "Rabbi, where 
dwellest thou ? " The most singular part of the narrative, 
however, is, that when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had 
heard that he baptized more disciples than John, he left 
Judaaa and went into Galilee, although John had previously 
declared (iii. 30) " He must increase, but I must decrease." 
Jesus thus leaves the field to John, and instead of going into 
the wilderness to be tempted, during or immediately after 
which period John was cast into prison, he goes into Galilee 
while John is still at liberty. The remaining circumstances 
relative to John are equally inexplicable and contradictory. 
In Matt. xi. 2, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus while 
he is in prison ; in Luke vii. 19, this takes place before his 
imprisonment. In Matt. iv. 17, Jesus uses the very same 
words as John does after he is sent to prison, and Matt. xvi. 
7, and xxxii. 32, are merely repetitions of the expressions 
attributed to John in c. iii. 7. In Matt. xv. 12, it is implied 
that the two sects were in harmony with each other, for 
John's disciples inform the disciples of Jesus of his death ; 
but it is evident that neither the supernatural appearance 



86 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

at the baptism nor the miracles of Jesus had had any effect 
in converting them, and in the Acts (xix. 3) we are told of 
disciples of John who had never even heard of Christ ! 

In the synoptical gospels it is said that John recognised 
Jesus as the Messiah. In the fourth gospel (i. 32) it is ex- 
pressly said that " John knew him not " until he saw the 
Spirit descending upon him, and not till then did he bear 
record " that this is the chosen of God." [Cod. Sin.] 

In Luke iii. 1, a show of historical accuracy is made by 
saying that these things took place when Lysanias was 
tetrarch of Abilene. Josephus speaks of an Abila of Lysa- 
nias, and also of a Lysanias who was ruler of Chalcis, at the 
foot of Mount Libanus. Abila being in the neighbourhood 
of Chalcis, Lysanias may have been ruler of it also ; but Ly- 
sanias was put to death, at the instigation of Cleopatra, no 
less than thirty-four years before the birth of Jesus, and 
neither Joseplius nor any contemporary historian speaks of 
any other Lysanias. At the period assigned to the preaching 
of John, Abilene belonged to the Eomans. It has been sup- 
posed that the error arose from Luke's inadvertently insert- 
ing the name of the last king of the preceding dynasty, 
because the country was still called the Abilene of Lysanias ; 
but this would not explain his calling Lysanias the tetrarch 
of Abilene. The object of the writer was to give Jesus a 
predecessor. It would have been impossible, without vio- 
lating historical truth, to say that John left off baptizing 
and became a disciple of Jesus ; and therefore a narrative 
has been drawn up which makes Jesus to have been baptized 
and recognised as the Lamb of God by John, while he himself 
continues to baptize as if no such event had taken place, 
and, after he is cast into prison, actually sends to ask him 
(Matt. xi. 3) " Art thou he that should come, or do we look 
for another ?" The legend, in its first form, appears to be 
contained in the Evangelium Infantise, c. xxii. 1-3 : " Now 
from this time Jesus began to conceal his miracles, and gave 
himself to the study of the law, till he arrived at his 
thirtieth year, at which time the Father publicly owned him 
at Jordan, sending down this voice from heaven: 6 This is 
my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased/ the Holy Spirit 
being also present in the form of a dove." 

The verse in which we are told that Jesus came to be bap- 
tized of John is a terrible stumbling-block to the supernatu- 



THE EXECUTION OF JOIIX THE BAPTIST. 87 

ralistic interpretation, for he could not have been baptized by 
John without confessing his sins. In the Gospel to the 
Hebrews this difficulty was avoided. It says: "Behold, the 
mother of the Lord and his brethren said unto him, John 
the Baptist baptizes for the remission of sins ; let us go and 
be baptized of him. But he said unto them, In what have I 
sinned that I should go and be baptized of him? unless per- 
chance this very thing that I have said is the speech of an 
ignorant person? Thus Jesus, who was almost reluctant to 
do so, was compelled by his mother Mary to receive the bap- 
tism of John." The baptism described in Matt. iii. 14-117 
is also differently described in the Gospel to the Hebrews. 
It is there said: "When Jesus was baptized, a fire was seen 
upon the water. But it happened, when the Lord came up out 
of the water, that the fountain of All Holy Spirit descended 
upon him, and said, My son, I have been expecting thee 
all along from among the prophets, that thou wouldest 
come, and that I might rest in thee. For thou art my rest, 
thou art my first-born son, who reignest for ever and ever." 
It is evident that this is the earlier account, because the 
Holy Spirit is called in the original Hebrew or Aramaic 
rm, as in the second verse of Gen. i., while in the canonical 
Matthew it is called to irvzvfjba, representing the masculine 
idea, which came from a totally different source. 

Josephus (Ant. xviii. 5, 2) says that John, after remaining 
some time in prison, was put to death by the order of Herod 
Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. Mark says that he was be- 
headed by Herod on account of his brother Philip's wife, and 
Matthew falls into the same error; but Josephus only mentions 
him by the family name of Herod, and he could not, contrary 
to all custom, have borne the same proper name as Philip 
the tetrarch, the brother of Herod Antipas. This is, there- 
fore, a palpable error on the part of the evangelists. Jose- 
phus mentions Herod, the son of Mariamne, no less than 
seven times, and does not once call him Philip. On the con- 
trary, he says: "Now Herod the king [Herod the Great] had 
at this time nine wives, one of them being Antipater's 
mother, and another the high-priest's daughter, by whom 
he had a son of his own name" He also mentions Philip 
distinctly in the following passage (Ant. xvii. 1, 3) : "Herod 
had also to wife Cleopatra, of Jerusalem, and by her he had 
two sons, Herod and Philip." 



88 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

The reason why John was arrested and put to death was 
the fear of troubles arising from the number of his disciples. 
Josephus says that the people " pricked up their ears at his 
words," and that Herod, becoming* alarmed, thought it bet- 
ter to cause John to be executed. This is falsely represented 
in the gospels as taking place in consequence of John's 
remonstrance against Herod's incestuous marriage ; but their 
accounts are irreconcilable. Mark, who gives the longest 
account, says that Herod " feared John, knowing that he was 
a just man, and an holy, and observed him ; and when he 
heard him he hesitated much, and heard him gladly" (Mark 
vi. 20 [Cod. Sin.]). He represents Herodias as the sole 
cause of his being put to death. In Matthew, on the con- 
trary, though Herod had "put him into prison for Herodias' 
sake," he is afraid to put him to death through fear of the 
multitude (xiv. 5). Thus in Mark Herod is anxious to keep 
him alive, and Herodias only succeeds by a stratagem, while 
in Matthew Herod and Herodias are both anxious for his 
death, but the former is afraid of the people. Both narra- 
tives state that the head of John was brought while Herod 
was at supper. We have therefore to suppose that Herod 
Antipas, in the presence of the "lords, captains, and chief 
estates of Galilee" (Mark vi. 21), caused his step- daughter, 
Salome, a young Bom an damsel (/copdo-Lov) of good family, 
who cannot have been more than ten years old at that time, 
to dance before the assembled company; after which she 
receives the head of John in a charger, and carries it to her 
mother ! 

The true story is as follows : Herod Antipas went, in a.d. 
20, on a visit to Rome, where his half-brother Herod, who 
was the son of Mariamne, the high-priest's daughter, had 
lived in retirement since the year B.C. 5, when he was 
disinherited by Herod the Great (Jos. Antiq. xvii. 4, 2). He 
had married Herodias, the granddaughter of Herod the 
Great, who was consequently half-niece to him and to 
Antipas. Antipas fell violently in love with Herodias, and 
promised to marry her, and to put away his own wife, who 
was the daughter of Aretas, the king of Petra, and emir of 
the tribes which bordered on Persea. As soon as his wife 
became aware of his intention, she pretended to wish to 
undertake a journey to Maehserus, a fortress which was then 
in the possession of Aretas (Jos. Ant. xviii. 5, 1), and he, 



THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 89 

being warned, made every preparation to aid his daughter's 
flight, and she was ultimately taken to Petra, In the mean- 
time Herodias left her husband and joined Antipas, taking 
with her her infant daughter Salome (Jos. Ant. xviii. 6, 1 3 
Bell. Jud. i. 30, 7). 

The account of the temptation in Matt. iv. and Luke iv. 
contradicts that in Mark i. 13, which represents Christ as 
being tempted of Satan for forty days, and says not a word 
of his fasting. In the fourth gospel the temptation is omit- 
ted, and the period between the descent of the Holy Ghost 
and the first miracle is filled up so as to prevent the possi- 
bility of intercalating a period of six weeks, it being distinctly 
stated that Jesus was in Cana of Galilee on the third day 
after that event (John iii. 1). The author of this gospel had, 
therefore, either never heard of the temptation, or regarded 
it as unhistorical. Mark says that Jesus was forty days in 
the wilderness, tempted of Satan. Matthew says that he 
fasted forty days and forty nights, and was tempted, not 
during that time, but after it. Mark gives no particulars 
of the temptation, while Luke appears to have endeavoured 
to reconcile the two accounts. The forty days are taken from 
the forty days and forty nights that Moses is said to have 
fasted, neither eating bread nor drinking water (Exod. xxxiii. 
28; Deut. ix. 9, 18), and from the fasting of Elijah for a 
similar period (1 Kings, xix. 8). 

The original idea of temptation among the Jews was that 
it came from God, as in Gen. xxii. 1, where God tempts 
Abraham ; and in Exod. xvi. 4, where he tempts the children 
of Israel ; or as in 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, where he invites David to 
number Israel. In 1 Chron. xxi. 1, however, God is altered 
into Satan. This passage, therefore, asserts the identity of 
Satan with Jehovah. In Job ii. 1, we have Satan in heaven, 
in company with the sons of God. The different ideas on this 
subject arise from the Jews having no idea of a devil until 
after the Babylonish captivity, and are expressed — the first, 
in what is called the Lord's prayer : "Our Father, who art 
in heaven . . . lead us not into temptation ;" and the second 
in James i. 13, 14 : " Let no man say when he is tempted, 
I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, 
neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when 
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed." Satan, or 
Shathan, the adversary, the enemy of mankind, had become 



90 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

for the Jews tlie special adversary of their nation, and con- 
sequently the king of all the pagan nations with whom they 
were in hostility. Thus, in Zachariah ii. 1, Satan resists 
Joshua, the high-priest, who stands before the angel of 
Jehovah ; and in Yajirha Rabba (Bertholot, Christol. Jud. 
p. 153) Jehovah, according to R. Jochanan, says to the master 
of death, that is, to Satan (conf. Heb. ii. 14), " Feci quidem 
te Koa/jLo/cpdropa, at vero cum populo foederis negotium nulla in 
re tibi est." It was natural, therefore, that if the Jewish 
people were connected with the Messiah, Satan should be 
represented as his adversary. 

The next great event in the life of Jesus is the call of the 
apostles. This takes place, according to the synoptical 
gospels, in Galilee, as do all the other events of the ministry 
of Jesus until he goes to Jerusalem at the end of his career. 
It follows from this that he must have neglected all the 
Jewish festivals, for it is clear from Matt. xvi. 21 that he 
had not up to that time been to Jerusalem. His ministry, 
therefore, must have been among a population who were 
despised by the Jews of Jerusalem; who spoke a dialect 
which the more cultivated Jews laughed at ; who were con- 
sidered in religious matters to be ignorant and unorthodox ; 
and who were proverbially called " Galilsean fools." 

The call of the apostles is described by Mark as follows 
(Mark iii. 13-19 [Cod. Sin.]): "And he goeth up into a 
mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would, and they 
came to him. And he called twelve, whom also he named 
apostles, that they should be with him, and that he might 
send them forth to preach, and to have power to cast out 
devils. And he ordained the twelve, and Simon he surnamed 
Peter, and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of 
James, and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons 
of thunder ; and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and 
Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphseus, and 
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed 
him. 55 

This appointment of apostles is usually supposed to be 
something peculiar to Christianity, as are also the offices 
in the Christian Church spoken of in the Epistles and in 
ecclesiastical history. But in fact the early Christian con- 
gregations were constituted just as the Jewish congregations 
were who had the Rabbis or elders (presbyters) instead of 



APPOINTMENT OF THE APOSTLES. 91 

priests. Tlieir chiefs were called apostles, or Sclielicliim 
(Dvnbtt/), and under them were the deacons, or Chazzanim 
( D^nn) . Thus in Acts xx. 1 7, Paul is represented as address- 
ing himself to the elders of the church, and he afterwards 
(v. 18) calls these same persons overseers or bishops {sttlctkottol). 
The same is the case in Phil. i. 1, 1 Tim. iii. 1, 2, and Tit. i. 
5-7, in all which passages bishops alone are spoken of; but 
as it is impossible to suppose that these churches were with- 
out priests, we must conclude with Jerome (Epist. 101, 
Evang.) that the apostle clearly teaches that the presbyters 
and bishops were identical: "Apostolus perspicue docet 
eosdem esse presbyteros quam episcopos." 

This is also the case in the first epistle of Clement to the 
Corinthians, which Eusebius says was publicly read in the 
assemblies of the primitive church, and which is included in 
the Alexandrine MS. of the Old and New Testament pre- 
sented by Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria, to Charles the 
First in 1628. This epistle, which is certainly not written 
by the Clement mentioned in Phil. iv. 3, and which probably 
belongs to the first quarter of the second century, holds the 
same language respecting the appointment by the apostles 
of bishops and deacons, using the term bishop in its primi- 
tive sense of overseer, in which it was used both in Greece 
and Rome to denote certain municipal officials (Cic. ad Att. 
viii. 1), and which at a later period became adopted as the 
synonym of Rabbi or bishop. The epistle of Clement says 
(c. xix.), "Thus saith the Scripture in a certain place, I will 
appoint tlieir overseers in righteousness and their ministers 
in faith." This is so clear that an attempt has been made to 
explain it by saying that the bishopric at Corinth was vacant 
at the time, but there is not the slightest warrant for this 
assertion. It is evident, therefore, that both at Jerusalem 
and at Rome there were none but elders or priests in existence 
in the early church, and that they were on a general footing 
of equality, so that even the primus inter pares was by no 
means firmly established in his authority. 

The term apostle is applied to Jesus himself in Heb. ii. 1, 
because he is supposed to have exercised the functions of a 
Rabbi, or elder. The term Rabbi, which was held in great 
veneration by the Jews, signifies the Master, or the Doctor 
of the Law. It is clear according to the gospels, in which 
Jesus is sometimes called Rabbi, that he performed the 



92 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

functions of one, for he taught in the synagogues (Mark i. 
21, 39; Matt. iv. 23; Luke iv. 15, 44), and he would of 
course not be allowed to teach anything that was contrary 
to the law. 

It is remarkable that neither in the above-quoted passage 
of Mark, nor in the parallel passages, is there any authority 
given to apostles to baptize. The statement in John iv. 2, 
that they baptized during the lifetime of Jesus, is therefore 
inconsistent with the synoptical gospels, as is also the state- 
ment in John xii. 6, and xiii. 39, that they carried a box 
{y^ayaaofcofjLov) with the prohibition against carrying any 
money with them in Matt. vi. 8. The powers given to 
the apostles are variously stated. In Mark they have only 
power to preach and to cast out devils. In Luke the power 
of curing diseases is added to these. In Matthew they have 
also power to cleanse the lepers and to raise the dead during 
the lifetime of Jesus. As they never exercised that power, 
this must be a later insertion, after the Acts of the Apostles 
and similar works had been written. A later reading in the 
Codex Sinaiticus omits the words "raise the dead." The 
same discrepancies exist as to their equipment. In Mark 
they are told to take nothing for their journey but a staff, 
to be shod with sandals, and not to put on two coats. In 
Matthew (x. 10) they are told not to provide shoes " nor yet 
a staff" [Cod. Sin.], and in Luke ix. 3 they are again told 
not to take a staff. 

The dress of the lower class among the Jews, to which the 
apostles exclusively belonged, was white. The upper classes 
alone wore purple, violet, and crimson robes, The men 
wore a long and ample tunic with sleeves, which was con- 
fined at the waist by a leathern belt, and a white cloth, or 
turban, was twisted round their heads. They also wore 
sandals, which left the upper part of the feet bare, and 
which were strapped on by leathern thongs, and a species of 
cloak, called simla, resembling the Arab haik, completed 
their costume. Tzizyt, or fringes, made of violet thread, 
were fastened to the four corners of this cloak (Numb. xv. 
37-41; Deut. vi. 8, xxii. 12; Matt, xxiii. 5) ; and they also 
wore, in conformity with the law, a tephilim, or phylactery, 
in the middle of the forehead, and on the upper part of the 
arm. A long beard, generally jet black, relieved the monotony 
of this costume, which was entirely white. The dress of the 



DRESS OF THE LOWER ORDERS OF JEWS. 93 

women differed very little from that of the men. An upper 
tunic, which was much more ample, covered the lower one 
almost entirely. Their belts were made of wool instead of 
leather, and went three or four times round the body. Their 
cloaks, which were much longer than those of the men, had 
no tzizyt at the corners. The turban which passed over 
their foreheads, and to which a white veil was attached, kept 
up the whole of their hair. 

The tzizyt are ordered to be worn in Numb. xv. 37 : "And 
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children 
of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes on the 
borders of their garments throughout their generations, and 
that they put upon the fringe of the border a riband of blue 
(sky-blue, to remind them of the Deity) ; and it shall be 
unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remem- 
ber all the commandments of the Lord, and do them." 
These fringes, which were attached to the blue ribands, 
were called tzizyt. Since the dispersion of the Jews they 
have beenj3ut on the four corners of the prayer-cloak (the 
thalet), and are still worn in this manner. 

The tephilim, or phylacteries, as they are called in Greek, 
were pieces of parchment which all the Jews used to wear on 
their foreheads and their arms, on which were written 
Deut. vi. 4, 6, 8 ; Exod. xiii. 1-16, and xv. 26. This was 
done in compliance with Deut. vi. 8, " Thou shalt bind them 
for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets 
between thine eyes." In Treatise Megilla, 246, there is a 
passage which shows that all the Christian sects used to 
wear these tephilim for a very long period, probably until 
after the appointment of uncircumcised bishops. Lucian, who 
wrote circa a.d. 1 70, shows (De morte Peregr.) how the Christ- 
ian sects retained the Jewish superstitions and practices. 
He says, " Peregrinus resumed his wandering life, and was 
accompanied in his ramblings by a number of Christians, 
who served him as satellites, and ministered abundantly to 
his wants. He was supported in this manner for a long 
time, but afterwards, having violated one of their precepts 
(I think he had been seen to partake of prohibited flesh), he 
was abandoned by his attendants and reduced to poverty." 

The first apostle mentioned by Mark is Simon, who re- 
ceives on this occasion the surname of Cephas, a rock, or 
shore ; but as James and John also received surnames on this 



94 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

occasion, little importance need be attached to this circum- 
stance ; and in this gospel Peter has no power given to him 
over the other apostles. In John i. 40-42 [Cod. Sin.], an 
account is given of Peter's call which differs essentially from 
that in the synoptical gospels : — 

" One of the two which heard John speak, and followed 
him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth 
his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found 
the Messias, which is, being interpreted, Christ. He brought 
him to Jesus. When Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art 
Simon the son of John ; thou shalt be called Cephas, which 
is interpreted Peter." 

" The son of John " in this passage has been altered into 
" the son of Jona," in order to make it agree with Matt. xvi. 
17. The explanation of this passage is, that the Christians 
of the Order of St. John believe that John married and had 
four children, of whom Simon was one, and later tradition, 
as given in Luke, made John and Jesus to be cousins. 
Matt. xvi. 17 is itself an interpolated passage, for it speaks 
of " the Church of Christ," and of an occasion on which 
Simon received the surname of Peter, which is not men- 
tioned in Matthew's gospel. In the Gospel of the Nazarenes 
Peter is also called " the son of John." Luke (vi. 14) and 
Matthew (x. 2) say that Andrew was Simon Peter's brother, 
but all the rest of the narrative in both gospels shows that 
Peter had no brother. Mark says nothing of this relation- 
ship, but on the other hand says (iii. 18) that James and 
John were brothers, and sons of Zebedee. Luke does not 
mention this, but the Epistle to the Galatians (i. 19) says 
that James the Apostle was the brother of Jesus — a fact, 
therefore, of which Mark, the supposed friend and disciple 
of Peter, was perfectly ignorant. It appears, however, from 
Acts xii. 2, that the two sons of Zebedee were not apostles 
at all, but were the two brothers mentioned in the Acts, one 
of whom was put to death by Herod, and the other of whom 
was probably the " John whose surname was Mark " men- 
tioned in Acts ii. 25. 

Boul anger says that the word Peter, Cephas, or a similar 
sound, signifies gate or opening in the Eastern languages. 
This was how this name came to indicate the porter of the 
Christian heaven. He has also been made a fisherman in 
order to keep up the allegory of the ship, which is to be 



THE POWER OF BINDING AND LOOSING. 95 

seen on medals of Janus. This is the origin of the allegorical 
fishings in the gospels, and also of the representation of the 
Church as a vessel without masts, given up to the fury of the 
winds and waves, which was common among the early- 
Christians. In the mystical language of the fourth gospel, 
where Peter is again spoken of as the son of John (John xxi. 
15 [Cod Sin.]), Peter, the son of John, Joannes, or Oannes, 
the great Fisherman, inherited the power of ruling the 
Church from the Lamb of God. The Fisherman succeeded 
to the Shepherd as Pisces did to Aries. 

The passage, Matt. xvi. 17-19, upon which the supposed 
supremacy of Peter over the other apostles is founded, is, as 
has been already observed, an evident interpolation, and 
directly contradicts Matt, xviii. 18, in which the power to 
bind and to loose is given to all the apostles without excep- 
tion. The words " Thou art Peter " refer to Mark iii. 16, 
where Simon is stated to have received this surname, and 
the hand of the compiler is further shown in that he takes 
care, after the praise of Christ which Peter had commenced, 
to mitigate the words ETTcTL/uLyasv avroh (Mark viii. 30), and 
put in their place tots Slso-tslXclto (xvi. 20). The power of 
binding and loosing given to the apostles was an expression 
well understood at the time, and was merely what is called 
in the Talmud the Semicha. The Talmud calls declaring a 
thing to be permitted or forbidden by the law " binding and 
loosing." Rabbis alone had this power, but they were em- 
powered to transmit it to any of their disciples whom they 
might think fitted to exercise it. In Treatise Sanhedrin, 5, 
ifc is said, " A doctor ought not to pronounce any decision 
until he has been authorised to do so by his master. The 
formula of authorisation is as follows : ' Let him decide, let 
him decide — let him judge, let him judge — let him unbind 
the first-born, let him unbind.' " Jesus, therefore, is merely 
represented as using the accustomed formula when he says to 
his disciples, " Whatever ye shall bind .on earth shall be 
bound in heaven," &c. In other words he is giving them 
the Semicha, or, as we should say in the present day, the 
investiture. The Semicha, however, did not allow the slightest 
breach or abrogation of the law. All that it allowed was the 
application of the law to the particular cases submitted to 
the Rabbis or their disciples for decision, and was a mere 
formal declaration that such a law applied to such a case. 



96 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

In Mark ii. 14, it is said that Jesus saw Levi the son of 
Alphseus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said to him, 
" Follow me." In Matt. ix. 9, this Levi is transformed into 
Matthew, and in Luke v. 27 he becomes Levi again. Levi, 
however, in Mark does not become an apostle (see c. iii. 18). 
The editor of Matthew has altered the name Levi into 
Matthew, and calls him "the publican" (x. 3), evidently 
because he took the call of Levi sitting at the receipt of 
custom to be a call to the apostleship. He has also taken 
T7J oik la aurov (Mark ii. 15), by which the house of Jesus is 
indicated, for the house of the publican. Luke (v. 29) makes 
Levi give a great feast to Jesus in his own house, to which 
he invites a great number of publicans and others, but does 
not identify him with Matthew (vi. 15) any more than the 
author of the Acts does (i. 1 3) . Again, the Gospel of Matthew 
is attributed to that apostle, but it is utterly inconceivable 
that he should call himself Matthew if his real name was 
Levi, or that he should speak of himself as " a man named 
Matthew." 

The third gospel and the Acts contradict the other gos- 
pels upon a matter of fact. In Mark and Matthew we have 
an apostle who is called Thaddseus (Lebbseus, in Matt. x. 3, 
is an addition, which is not in the Sinaitic or the Vatican 
Codex). In Luke and the Acts he becomes Judas, the brother 
of James. The discrepancy is explained by the commentators 
to arise from Thaddseus being a Syrian word of much the 
same meaning as Judas, which is used by Luke ; but it is 
certain that the gospels were not originally written in Syriac, 
and if the author of the first gospel had adopted a Syrian 
instead of a Hebrew name for this apostle, he would in 
common consistency have called the last Thaddseus Iscariot 
also. 

It is impossible to suppose that Jesus gave distinguishing 
epithets to the apostles at a time when he had no experience 
of them. Matthew, in order probably to give prominence to 
Peter, has omitted the epithet Boanerges given to the sons 
of Zebedee, and has altered the representation in Mark x. 35 
et sqq., that they occupied so high a rank among the apostles 
that they asked Jesus to give them the highest place in his 
father's kingdom, into their mother asking that favour for 
them. Simon the Canaanite, which is the old reading, and 
which is derived from the Hebrew ^Kap " the zealot " (conf. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 97 

Luke vi. 15, o JfyXwr^), has also been altered into Simon the 
Canaanite, thus making his surname indicate the place of 
his birth instead of his moral qualities, and leaving Peter 
alone, in Matthew's Gospel, with an epithet. Judas Iscariot 
has also undergone a transformation. The word Iscariot is 
made up of the words ttflK and n^y? " tne man °f Karioth," 
a town in the tribe of Judah, mentioned in Josh. xv. 25. 
Matthew, though not understanding it, has written 'lov&as 
^la/capLcorrjs in c. x. 4, and elsewhere, as if Iskarioth were the 
birth-place of Judas. The place where he was really supposed 
to be born is put beyond question by the correct reading of 
John vi. 71 [Cod. Sin.], "He spake of Judas the son of Simon, 
who was of Cariotus." 

In Mark iii. 19 [Cod. Sin.] it is said that after the call of 
the apostles Jesus went into an house. In Luke vi. 17, on 
the contrary, he comes down from the mountain and stands 
in the plain, surrounded by his disciples, and by a great 
multitude of people from Judaea, Jerusalem, Pereea [Cod. Sin.] 
(conf. Matt. iv. 25, "from beyond Jordan "), from Tyre, and 
from Sidon. These people, we are told, came to hear him 
and to be healed of their diseases, and those that had unclean 
spirits were also healed. Jesus then (v. 20) addresses to his 
disciples what has obtained the name of the Sermon on the 
Mount. This sermon, or discourse, is placed much later in 
this gospel than it is in Matthew, for several journeys and 
miracles are recorded in it as occurring before the sermon 
which Matthew places after it, and Matthew makes it precede 
instead of follow the call of the Apostles. It is impossible 
to reconcile the two statements, for in Luke, as in Matthew, 
Jesus goes to Capernaum as soon as the sermon is finished, 
and heals the centurion's servant. 

There are great differences between the two sermons. In 
Luke the blessings are all of a temporal description, and no 
spiritual meaning is attached to them. They are conceived in 
the spirit of the Ebionites, who taught that future happiness 
was to be the result of bodily suffering in this world. The 
maledictions which follow in Luke are not in Matthew. 
The Eabbis attached great importance to the Mosaic blessings 
and cursings, and these are in conformity with the practice 
of Moses as represented in the Pentateuch. Matt. v. 14-16 
is not in the Sermon on the Mount in Luke, but is inserted, 
firstly after the parable of the sower and his seed, and 

H 



93 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

secondly in an address to the people in c. xi. 33. Mark 
(iv. 21) also puts it after the parable of the sower, but puts 
it not as a parable, but as a question. The parable which 
Jesus is said to have spoken on this occasion (Luke vi. 39) is 
represented in Matthew (xv. 14) as being spoken on quite 
a different occasion, and as not being a parable, and v. 40 is 
in the charge of Jesus to his disciples long after the Sermon 
on the Mount (Matt. x. 24). Luke vi. 48 is in an address 
to the Pharisees in Matt. xii. 34, 35. 

The introduction to the Sermon in Matthew states that 
Jesus " went about . . . healing all manner of sickness and 
all manner of disease among the people." These words 
occur again almost identically in c. ix. 35. Even " seeing 
the multitudes " occurs again in c. ix. 36. The narrative in 
Matt. ix. 35, 36, precedes a succession of instructions which 
Jesus gave to the apostles, and these words occur again in 
the same manner in c. iv. 23 as an introduction to the dis- 
course in the next chapter. The editor, probably the latest 
one, took c. ix. 35 from Mark vi. 6 and i. 39, and these 
words have been ingeniously used as an introduction to the 
Sermon. It is also most improbable that at the very com- 
mencement of his ministry the fame of Jesus should have 
extended over all Syria, and that great multitudes should 
have followed him, not only from Galilee, but from Decapolis 
(the error respecting which has already been pointed out), 
from Jerusalem, and from beyond Jordan. The words " and 
he goeth up into the mountain " (to opos) (Marl?: iii. 13) and 
" he went up into the mountain " (Matt. v. 1) are inter- 
changed. The compiler, who had to find a place for the 
collection of sayings w T hich he had derived from elsewhere, 
and which are contained in Matt, v.-vii., took the account of 
the ascent of the mountain from Mark iii. 13 and the intro- 
duction to it (iv. 24, 25) from Mark iii. 7-10. 

The choice of the Apostles, which in Mark and Luke 
follows the ascent of the mountain by Jesus, is placed later 
by Matthew, according to whom only four disciples had been 
chosen up to that time (iv. 18-22) and who had not yet been 
appointed apostles. These four disciples, who according to 
c. v. 1 were his only hearers, are at the end of the dis- 
course (vii. 28) changed into the multitude which he had 
endeavoured to avoid by ascending the mountain. In Matt. 
v. 1, Jesus is represented as seated : in Luke (vi. 17) he is 
represented as standing. 



JEWISH ORIGIN OF THE SEKMOX. 99 

The Sermon on the Mount is intended as an exposition of 
doctrine. It is, however, impossible that Jesus can have 
uttered two dissimilar discourses on the same occasion, 
and Matt. v. 21 is inconsistent with his telling Peter in c. 
xvi. 1 7 that he only knew him to be the Messiah by direct 
revelation from heaven. When we come to examine this 
celebrated discourse, we find none of the distinctive doctrines 
which have been so much insisted upon, but a summary of 
Jewish doctrines, with some slight alterations, the original 
sources of which will be given in the next chapter. It is 
necessary to observe that the first verse is mis-translated, 
and should be "Blessed in spirit are the poor." The 
Essenes and Ebionites, whose ideas are represented in this 
discourse, were essentially poor and humble. The Hebrew 
word anan, to which the word tttw^op corresponds, signifies 
meek as well as poor (conf. Numb. xii. 3, Ps. xxvii. 11, 
Prov. xvi. 19, and Isa. xxix. 19), and a spiritual meaning, 
may thus be attached to the word. 



H 2 



100 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



CHAPTEE III. 



Matthew, Chapter V. 

Verse 3. Blessed in spirit are the 
poor (or meek), for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. 



4. Blessed are they that mourn, 
for they shall be comforted. 



5. Blessed are the meek, for they 
shall inherit the earth. 



6. Blessed are they which do hun- 
ger and thirst after righteousness, 
for they shall be filled. 



7. Blessed are the merciful, 
they shall obtain mercy. 



for 



Original Sources. 

The Lord preserveth the simple. — 
Ps. cxvi. 6. 

The Lord is honoured of the 
lowly. Eccl. iii. 20. 

Honour shall uphold the humble 
in spirit. — Prov. xxix. 23. 

I dwell . . . with him that is of a 
contrite and humble spirit. — Isa. 
lvii. 15. 

Wherever the greatness of God is 
mentioned in the Scriptures, the love 
of God for the humble is spoken 
of. — Talmud, Treatise Meguila. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken 
spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, 
God, thou wilt not despise. — Ps. 
li. 17. 

He healeth the broken in heart, 
and bindeth up their griefs. — Ps. 
cxlvii. 3. 

The meek shall inherit the earth. 
— Ps. xxxvii. 11. 

He giveth grace to the lowly. — 
Prov. iii. 34. 

Lord, who shall abide in thy ta- 
bernacle ? who shall dwell in thy 
holy hill ? He that walketh up- 
rightly, and worketh righteous- 
ness. — Ps. xv. 1. 

He that walketh righteously . . . 
shall dwell on high. — Is. xxxiii. 15, 
16. 

This gate of the Lord, into which 
the righteous shall enter. — Ps. 
cxviii. 8. 

He that followeth after righteous- 
ness and mercy, findeth life, righ- 
teousness, and honour. — Prov. xxi. 
21. 

Whosoever hath mercy on men, 
on him also hath God mercy. But 
he who showeth no mercy to men, 
neither to him will God show mercy. 
— Treatise Schabbath, fol. 151, 2. 



OJRIGIX OF THE BEATITUDES. 



101 



8. Blessed are the pure in heart, 
for they shall see God. 



9. Blessed are the peace- in akera, 
for they shall see God. 



10. Blessed are they which are 
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for 
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 



11. Blessed are ye when men 
shall revile you and persecute you, 
and shall say all manner of evil 
against you falsely, for my sake. 

12. Bejoice, and be exceeding 
glad, for great is your reward in 
heaven, for so persecuted they the 
prophets that came before you. 



Who shall ascend into the hill of 
the Lord ? or who shall stand in his 
holy place ? He that hath clean 
hands and a pure heart. Ps. xxiv. 
3,4. 

Seek peace and pursue it. Ps. 
xxxiv. 14. 

Love peace, and seek it at any 
price. Hillel-Pirke'-Abot, i. 12. 

Remember that it is better to be 
persecuted than to persecute. — Tal- 
mud, Treatise Yoma. 

If the persecutor were a just man, 
and the persecuted person an impi- 
ous one, God always would espouse 
the cause of the persecuted. — Mid- 
rasch, Vayikra Rabba, 27. 

It is pleasing to the righteous to 
suffer afflictions on account of God, 
for thus are they freed from this 
state of exile. — Synopsis Sohar, p. 
92. 

Behold, happy is the man whom 
God chasten eth, therefore despise 
not thou the chastening of the Al- 
mighty. — Job v. 17. 

Blessed is the man whom thou 
chastenest, Lord. — Ps. xciv. 12. 

My son, despise not thou the chas- 
tening of the Lord . . . for whom the 
Lord loveth he ehasteneth. — Prov. 
iii. 11, 12. 



Verse 11 here speaks of the blessings which are to fall on 
the disciples when they are persecuted for Christ's sake. In 
Luke this is "for the Son of Man's sake;" but Christ had 
certainly not assumed that title at this period, according to 
the gospels. On the contrary, it appears from Matt. iv. 17 
that he was merely continuing the preaching of John. 

13. Ye are the salt of the earth, 
but if the salt has lost its savour, 
wherewithal shall it be salted ? it is 
thenceforth good for nothing but to 
be cast out, and to be trodden under 



foot of men. 



Every oblation of thy meat-offer- 
ing shalt thou season with salt, 
neither shalt thou suffer the salt of 
the covenant of thy God to be absent 
from thy meat-offering: with all 
thy offerings thou shalb offer salt. — 
Lev. ii. 13. 



Salt represents incorruptibility, and therefore, in a spiri- 
tual sense, eternity. Thus in Nuinb. xviii. 19, it is said, "It 
is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord." In the Tal- 
mud (Treatise Kethoubot, f. 66) it is also said, "All food 
requires to be salted in order to be preserved. Money also 
requires to be salted in order to be preserved. With what 



102 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

does money require to be salted ? With charity." Raschi 
says, " He who wishes to salt his money, that is to keep it, 
ought to diminish it incessantly by charity: — to lose in this 
way is to gain." There was a proverb at Jerusalem, " The 
salt of money is the diminution ('Heser) by charity ('Hered}." 
The Talmud attributes this play upon words to a young girl, 
and it was addressed to R. Johanan ben Zacai, who was born 
47 years before Christ. In Luke .Christ pronounces this 
sentence on quite a different occasion, and in Mark (ix. 50) 
it is connected with a discourse on hell-fire, and the appli- 
cation of the saying is different from what it is in the 
other two gospels. 

14. Ye are the light of the world. I will yet make doctrine to shine 
A city that is set on an hill cannot in the morning, and will send forth 
"be hid. her light afar off. — Eccl. xxiv. 32. 

15. Neither do men light a candle The seal of God is truth. — Tal- 
and put it under a bushel, hut on a niud, Treatise Yoma, f. 69. 
candlestick, and it giveth light to all 

that are in the house. 

16. Let your light so shine before The path of the just is as the 
men that they may see your good shining light, that shineth more and 
works, and glorify your Father which more unto the perfect day. — Prov. 
is in heaven. iv. 18. 

17. Think not that I am come to 
destroy the law and the prophets. 
I am not come to destroy, but to ful- 
fil. 

18. For verily I say unto you, 
Till heaven and earth pass away, one 
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
from the law till all be fulfilled. 

These two verses are very important as showing the early 
history of Christianity. When Jesus is said (Matt. iv. 23) to 
have taught in the synagogues, we know that he cannot 
have taught anything but the law and its accomplishment ; 
and we also know that a very good understanding existed 
for years between the Jewish Christians and the Jews. In 
the Recognitions, which are attributed to St. Clement, who 
is said to have been brought up in the school of Peter, 
u Beati Petri Apostoli disciplinis imbutus," are the following 
passages : — 

" Between us who believe in Jesus, and the Jews who do 
not believe on him, there is no difference except as to whether 
this Jesus is the prophet whom Moses foretold." (c. i. v. 43.) 

" The Jews are in error respecting the first advent of the 



OBSERVANCE OF THE MOSAIC LAW ENJOINED. 



103 



Lord, and that is the only subject of discussion between us." 
(lb. v. 50.) 

In Luke xvii. 16 Jesus is made to contradict this asser- 
tion, for he says, " The law and the prophets were until 
John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached." 

19. Whosoever therefore shall Judas the holy said, "Be as care- 
break one of these least command- ful to obey a trifling command as a 
ments, and shall teach men so, he great one."' — Pirke-Abot, 2—4. 
shall be called the least in the king- 
dom of heaven : but whosoever shall 

do and teach them, the same shall 
be called great in the kingdom of 
heaven. 

20. For I say unto you that unless 
your righteousness shall exceed the 
righteousness of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter 
into the kingdom of heaven. 

This verse shows that so far from inculcating- contempt of 
the Mosaic law, the author of these chapters intended it to 
be observed with more strictness than the Scribes and Pha- 
risees did. The word StKaioaui-r] means justice, not righteous- 
ness, and appears to be used in this place in the sense of 
merit, which is obtained, according to the Talmud, by works 
of piety, by the study of the law, and by the imputed merits 
of a person's ancestors. 



21. Ye have heard that it hath 
been said by them of old time, Thou 
shalt not kill, and" whoever shall 
kill shall be in dunger of the judg- 
ment. 

22. But I say unto you that who- 
soever is angry with his brother 
without a cause shall be in danger 
of the judgment, and whosoever 
shall say to his brother, Raca, shall 
be in danger of the council, but. who- 
soever shall say Thou fool shall be 
in danger of the Gehenna of tire. 



23. Therefore if thou bring thy 
gift to the altar, and there remem- 
berest that thy brother hath aught 
against thee ; 



Thou shalt not kill.— Exod. xx. 15. 
Thou shalt not kill.— Deut. v. 17. 



R. Chiskias said, "Whoever call- 
eth his neighbour resho (wicked) 
he is thrust into Gehenna. 

He who shall cause his brother to 
be ashamed in public, shall have no 
place in the future life. — Talmud, 
Treatise Aboth, iii. 13. 

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be 
angry, for anger resteth in the bosom 
of fools. — Eccl. vii. 4. 

It is better for a man to throw 
himself into a furnace than to make 
Lis brother ashamed in public. — R. 
Siin on ben Johai, Treatise Sota, f. 10. 

Bear not hatred to thy neighbour 
for every wrong, and do nothing at 
all by injurious practices. — Eccl. x. 6. 

Be slow to anger and be quick to 
be reconciled. — Talmud, Pirke- 
Abot, ii. 10. 



104 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



24. Leave there thy gift before 
the altar : first be reconciled to thy 
brother, and then come and offer thy 

gift. 



25. Agree with thine adversary 
quickly, whiles thou art in the way 
with him, lest at any time the ad- 
versary deliver thee to the judge, 
and the judge deliver thee to the 
officer, and thou be cast into prison. 

26. Verily I say unto thee, Thou 
shalt by no means come out thence, 
till thou hast paid the uttermost 
farthing. 



The Jom-Kipour (the Day of 
Atonement) does not expiate sins 
unless there has been reconciliation. 
— Treatise Yoma, Mischna. 

Whose sins does God forgive ? 
His who himself forgives injuries. — 
Treatise Meghilla, f. 28. 

If the offender should offer in 
sacrifice all the sheep in Arabia, he 
would not be absolved until he had 
asked pardon of him whom he had 
injured. — Talmud, B. Kamma, f. S2. 

He is the friend of God who does 
not become angry, and who sets an 
example of humility. — Treatise Pe- 
sachin, 113. 

Whoso is quick in forgiving, his 
sins also shall be forgiven him. — 
Talmud, F. Meghilla, f. 25. 

The beginning of strife is as when 
one letteth out water : therefore 
leave off contention before it be 
meddled with. — Pro v. xvii. 14. 

The discretion of a man deferreth 
his anger, and it is his glory to pass 
over a transgression. — Prov. xix. 11. 



This verse is connected with the doctrine of purgatory, 
which the Jews held. In Treatise Rosch Haschanah, c. I., 
it is said, " There will be three divisions on the day of the 
last judgment; one consisting of the perfectly just, the 
other of the perfectly wicked, and the third of those who are 
neither the one nor the other. The just are inscribed and 
sealed immediately for eternal life ; the wicked are also 
immediately inscribed and sealed for hell, for it is written, 
' And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt. 5 Dan. xii. 2. The middle class 
descend into hell, where they groan, where they moan, and 
whence they ascend afterwards, for it is written c And I will 
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them 
as silver is refined, and will try T them as gold is tried : they 
shall call upon ray name, and I will hear them.' Zech. 
xiii. 9. Hamah also says on this subject, c Jehovah killeth and 
maketh alive, he bringeth down to scheol, and bringeth up 
again.' " As it would be too much to expect agreement 
upon this or any other subject, we find that the school of 



ASCETICISM ENJOINED. 



105 



Hillel taught that grace would predominate — that is, that 
souls would not go to purgatory at all. 

27. Ye have heard that it was 
said by them of old time, Thou shalt 
not commit adultery : 



28. But I say unto you that who- 
ever looketh on a woman to lust 
after her, hath committed adultery 
with her already in his heart. 



Thou shalt not commit adultery. — 
Exod. xi. 14. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. — 
I)eut. v. ] 8. 

In every act it is especially the 
thought, the intention, which God 
looks at and judges. — Treatise Yo- 
ma, f. 29, a. 

Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bour's wife. — Exod. xx. 17. 

Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bour's wife. — Deut. v. 21, 

He who looks upon a woman with 
an evil intention, has already, so to 
speak, committed adultery. — Tal- 
mud, Treatise Kollah. 

29. And if thy right eye offend * 
thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, 

for it is profitable for thee that one of 
thy members should perish, and not 
that thy whole body should be cast 
into Gehenna. 

30. And if thy right band offend 
thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, 
for it is profitable for thee that one 
of thy members should perish, and 
not that thy whole body should be 
cast into Gehenna. 

These verses refer to those ascetic practices which existed 
among the Jews as among all other nations, and which were 
literally carried out. Rabbi Matthia ben Hanas plucked 
out his eyes in order that he might not be led into tempta- 
tion, and this incident has given rise to a very curious 
midrasch or parable (Jalcout. Sect. Wayechi, No. 16) 
in which Satan assumes the form of a beautiful woman. 
Rabbi Matthia, fearing that the temptation would be too 
much for him, tells his favourite disciple to heart a nail in the 
fire, with which he puts out his eyes. Satan being thus 
defeated, God sends Raphael to cure him, but Rabbi 
Matthia, fearing to be tempted again, refuses to be cured, 
and it is not till God pledges his word that Satan shall have 
no more power over him that he allows himself to be cured. 

When a man hath taken a wife, 
and married her, and it come to 
pass that she find no favour in 
his eyes because he hath found 
some uncleanness in her, let him 
write her a bill of divorcement 



31. It hath been said, Whosoever 
shall put away his wife, let him 
give her a writing of divorcement. 



106 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



32. But I say unto you, That 
•whosoever shall put away his wife, 
saving for the cause of fornication, 
causeth her to commit adultery, and 
whosoever shall marry her that is 
divorced committeth adultery. 

33. Again ye have heard that it 
hath been said by them of old time, 
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but 
shalt perform unto the Lord thine 
oaths. 



34. But I say unto you, swear not 
at all, neither by heaven, for it is 
God's throne, nor by the earth, for 
it is his footstool, neither by Jeru- 
salem, for it is the city of the Great 
King. Neither shalt thou swear by 
thy head, because thou canst not 
make one hair white or black. 



37. But let your communication 
be Yea, yea, Nay, nay, for whatso- 
ever is more than these cometh of 
evil. 

38. Ye have heard that it hath 
been said, An eye for an eye and a 
tooth for a tooth. 



and give it in her hand, and send 
her out of his house. — Deut. xxiv. 1. 

A wife must not be put away 
except for adultery. — Schammai in 
the Talmud, Treatise Quittin, p. 90. 

The altar itself sheds tears over 
him who puts away his wife. — R. 
Eliezer, Talmud, ib. 

Thou shalt not take the name of 
the Lord thy God in vain. — Exod. 
xx. 7. 

Ye shall not swear b^y my name 
falsely, neither shalt thou profane 
the name of thy God : I am the 
Lord. — Lev. xix. 13. 

Thou shalt not take the name of 
thy God in vain. — Deut. v. 11. 

Accustom not thy mouth to 
swearing, neither use thyself to the 
naming of the Holy One. For as a 
servant that is continually beaten 
shall not be without a blue mark, so 
he that sweareth and nameth God 
continually shall not be faultless. 
A man that useth much swearing 
shall be filled wdth iniquity .... 
and if he swear in vain, he shall not 
be innocent, but his house shall be 
full of calamities. — Eccl. xxiv. 9-11. 

Let thy nay be nay. Let thy yea 
be yea. — Treatise Baba-Mezia, f. 49. 



Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for 
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 
burning for burning, wound for 
wound, stripe for stripe. — Exod. 
xxi. 24. 

Give to every man as his right, as 
far as possible, the equivalent of the 
evil you have done. Every one 
ought, as far as possible, to repair 
the evil he has caused. — Talmud, 
Baba Kama, 84. 

In this same treatise the Talmud, speaking of the above 
law, says that the proof that only a compensation was in- 
tended is that the literal interpretation would have the effect 
of rendering a one-eyed man blind because he had put out one 
of the eyes of some one else who had two eyes. All the 
doctors of the second Temple agreed in interpreting this 
verse as signifying that pecuniary compensation was to be 
made, which was only forbidden to be taken in the case of 
murder, "Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a 
murderer." Numb. xxxv. 31. 



MISQUOTATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



107 



He givetli his cheek to him that 
smite th him. — Lam. iii. 30. 

Say not thou, I will recompense 
evil, but wait on the Lord, and he 
shall save thee. — Prov. xx. 22. 

They who submit to injury with- 
out repaying it ; they who hear 
themselves disparaged and do not 
reply; they whose only motive is 
love, who joyfully submit to the ills 
of life, these are they of whom the 
prophet speaks when he says, The 
friends of God shall one day shine 
like the sun in all his splendour. — 
Talmud, Yoma, p. 23. 

He is ever merciful, and lendeth, 
and his seed is blessed. — Ps. xxxvii. 
26. 

Thou shalt open thine heart wide 
unto thy brother, to thy poor, and 
to thv needy in thy land. — Deut. 
xv. 11. 

Thou shalt xot hate thy brother 
in thine heart. . . . Thou shalt NOT 
avenge nor bear any grudge against 
the children of thy people, but thou 
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
I am the Lord. — Lev. xix. 17, 18. 

If thou meet thine enemy's ox or 
his ass going astray, thou shalt surely 
bring it back to him again. If thou 
see the ass of him that hateth thee 
lying under his burden, and wouldst 
forbear to help him, thou shalt 
surely help him. — Exod. xxiii. 4, 5. 

This verse shows that whoever wrote this chapter did not 
hesitate to alter the Scriptures when it suited him ; for 
there is no sentence in the Bible which enjoins hatred to 
an enemy, and the whole of the Jewish teaching was en- 
tirely opposed to it. It is evident from the commencement 
of the next verse " But I say unto you," that it was intended 
to make the teaching of Christ appear superior to that of the 
Jews. 



39. But I say unto you, That ye 
resist not evil : but whosoever shall 
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn 
to him the other also. 

40. And if any man will sue thee 
at the law, and take away thy coat, 
let him have thy cloak also. And 
whosoever shall compel thee to go 
a mile, go with him twain. 



42. Give to him that asketh thee, 
and from him that would borrow of 
thee turn thou not away. 



43. Ye have heard that it bath 
been said, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour and hate thine enemy. 



44. But I say unto you, Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, 
do good to them that hate you. and 
pray for them which despitefully use 
you. and persecute you. 



45. That ye may be the children 
of your Father which is in heaven, 
for he niaketk his sun to rise on the 



If thine enemy be hungry, give 
him bread to eat, and if he be 
thirstv, aive him water to drink. — 
Pro v.* xxv. 21. 

Rejoice not when thine enemy 
faileth, and let not thine heart be 
glad Avhen he stumbleth. — Prov. 
xxiv. 17. 

We must not hate the wicked, 
but wickedness.— Treatise Bera- 
chvtk, 



108 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



evil and on the good [and sendeth 
rain on the justT and the unjust]. 
(The words in brackets are not in 
the Codex Sinaiticus.) 



40. For if ye love them which 
love you, what reward have ye ? do 
not even the publicans the same ? 



47. And if ye salute your brethren 
only, what do ye more than others ? 
do not even the publicans so ? 



Hatred stirreth up strife, but love 
covereth all sins. — Pro v. x. 12. 

All things come alike to all : 
there is one event to the righteous 
and to the wicked : to the good, and 
to the clean, and the unclean ; to 
him that sacrificeth and to him that 
sacrificeth not : as is the good, so is 
the sinner; and he that sweareth as 
he thatfeareth an oath. — Eccles. ix. 2. 

If I have rewarded evil unto him 
that was at peace with me ; (yea I 
have delivered him that without 
cause is mine enemy). — Ps. vii. 4. 

Whose sins does God forgive ? 
His who himself forgives injuries. 
Talmud, Treatise Meghilla, f. 28. 

If I rejoiced at the destruction of 
him that hated me, or lifted up my- 
self when evil found him. — Job xxxi. 
29. 

Rejoice not over thy greatest 
enemy being dead. — Eccl. vii. 7. 

We must neither rejoice at the 
misfortunes of an enemv, nor rejoice 
at his fall.— Pirke-Abot, iv. 21. 

Be compassionate and merciful 
like God: make thyself equal to 
God. — Treatise Sabbat. 



48. Be ye therefore perfect, even 
as your heavenly Father is perfect. 
[Cod. Sin.] 

Matthew, Chapter VI. 

1. Take heed that ye do not your 
alms before men, to be seen of them: 
otherwise ye have no reward of your 
Father which is in heaven. 

2. Therefore when thou doest 
thine alms, do not sound a trumpet 
before, as the hypocrites do in the 
synagogues and in the streets, that 
they may be seen of men. Verily I 
say unto you, They have their re- 
ward. 

3. But when thou doest alms, let 
not thy left hand know what thy 
right hand doeth : 

4. That thine alms may be in 
secret, and thy Father which seeth 
in secret himself shall reward thee 
[openly]. (Not in Cod. Sin.) 

Maimonides (Hilchet-Matanot-Amyirn, X.) lias found 
eight degrees of charity in the Talmud. The first, and 
highest, is that of the man who supports the poor before 
their fall either by gifts, or by loans, or by means of an 
association, so as to prevent them from becoming poor. The 
second is that of him who gives to the poor without knowing 



Lay up thy treasure according to 
the commandments of the Most 
High, and it shall bring thee more 
profit than gold. — Eccl. xxix. 11. 

It is as good not to give at all as 
to give ostentatiously, and in public. 
— Treatise Chaguiga, f. 5. 



Shut up alms in thy storehouses : 
and it shall deliver thee from all 
affliction. — Eccl. xxix. 12. 

He that doeth alms in secret is 
greater than Moses himself. — Trea- 
tise Buta Bitra. 



ORIGIN OF THE LORDS PRAYER. 



109 



or being" known. The third is that of him who knows the 
poor to whom he gives, but does not make himself known, 
&c. The exhortations to charity in the Old Testament are 
very numerous, and they had so great an effect on the Jewish 
nation that about a.d. 120 the doctors of the law assembled at 
Ouscha, under the presidency of R. Ismael, and drew up a 
law by which persons were prohibited from giving more than 
a fifth part of their income to the poor. 

5. And when thou prayest thou 
shalt not be as the hypocrites are, 
for they love to pvay standing in the 
synagogues and in the corners of the 
streets, that they may he seen of 
men. Verily I say unto you, They 
have their reward. 



6. But thou, when thou prayest, 
enter into thy closet, and when thou 
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Fa- 
ther which is in secret, and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall 
reward thee [openly]. (Not in Cod. 
Sin.) 

7. But when ye pray, use not vain 
repetitions as the heathen do ; for 
they think that they shall be heard 
for their much speaking. 

8. Be ye not therefore like them, 
for [God] your Father knoweth 
what things ye have need of before 
ye ask kiin. (Cod. Sin.) 

9. After this manner therefore 
pray ye : 

Our Father which art in heaven, 
hallowed be thy name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And for- 
give us our debts as we forgive [have 
forgiven, Cod. Sin. and Vat ] our 
debtors. And lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil 
[for thine is the kingdom, and the 
power, and the glory, for ever. 
Amen.] (Not in the Sinaitic or Va- 
tican Codex.) 



"Who is it that will not see the 
face of God ? The hypocrites, and 
next to them the liars. — Treatise 
Sota, p. 41. 

The doctor whose mind does not 
resemble his outward practice does 
not deserve the name of doctor. — 
Treatise Voma, f. 72. 

Such a man only feareth the eyes 
of men, and knoweth not that the 
eyes of the Lord are ten thousand 
times brighter than the sun, behold- 
ing all the ways of men, and consi- 
dering their most secret parts. — 
Eccl. xxiii. 19. 

It is better to make a short prayer 
with reflection than a long prayer 
without fervour. — Treatise Mena- 
choth, 110. 



Our Father which art in heaven, 
be gracious to us, Lord our God ; 
hallowed be thy name-, and let the 
remembrance of thee be glorified in 
heaven above, and upon earth here 
below. Let thy kingdom reign over 
U3, now and for ever. Thy holy 
men of old said, Remit and forgive 
unto all men whatsoever they have 
done against me. And lead us not 
into temptation, but deliver us from 
the evil thing. For thine is the 
kingdom, and thou shalt reign in 
glory, for ever and for evermore. 

The Kadish, a Jewish prayer. 

" Our Father which art in heaven " is a Jewish expression, 
and occurs not only in the above prayer, but repeatedly in the 
Jewish compositions which preceded the Christian era. In the 
most ancient prayers used in the synagogues the words " Our 



110 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Father " and " Our Father in heaven," in Hebrew D^t^Sty 
"O'QK, are stereotyped forms of expression. In the Mischna 
Rosch-Haschana it is said, " The Israelites have always 
been great in raising their thoughts, and submitting their 
hearts to their Father who is in heaven." See also Isa. lxiii. 
1 6, " Thou, Lord, art our father, our redeemer," and Jer. 
xxx. 20, xxxi. 9, Deut. xiv. 1, Ps. ciii. 13, &c. 

" Give us this day our daily bread " is an expression which 
is found in the Talmud, Treatise Yom-Tob. p. 16a, "May 
God be blessed each day for the daily bread which he gives 
us," and was uttered by Hillel. " And forgive us our debts, 
as we forgive our debtors " is also in Treatise Meghilla, f. 28 : 
" whoever is ready to forgive, his sins also are forgiven him." 

In Luke this prayer is said to have been taught the dis- 
ciples on a totally different occasion, and it would seem 
from this passage that Jesus had never taught his disciples 
any form of prayer until he was on his last journey. The 
disciples are represented as knowing that John taught his 
disciples to pray, and as asking Jesus for a form of pra} r er 
on that account. The prayer is much shorter than that in 
Matthew, and is as follows (Luke xi. 2-4, Cod. Sin.). 

"Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. 
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us 
day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we 
also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us 
not into temptation." 

14. For if ye forgive men their Forgive thy neighbour the hurt 
trespasses, your heavenly Father that he hath done unto thee, so shall 
will also forgive you. thy sins also be forgiven when thou 

prayest. — Eccl. xxviii. 2. 

The discretion of a man deferreth 
his anger, and it is his glory to pass 
over a transgression.— Piv>v. xix. 11. 

15. But if ye forgive not men One man beareth hatred against 
their trespasses, neither will your another, and doth he seek pardon 
Father forgive your trespasses. from the Lord ? He showeth no 

mercy to a man, which is like him- 
self, and doth he ask forgiveness of 
his own sins ? — Eccl. xxviii. 3, 4. 

16. Moreover, when ye fast, be He who captivates public opinion 
not as the hypocrites, of a sad coun- by feigned virtue, by imposture, is a 
tenance : for they disfigure their thief. Whoever steals the esteem, 
faces, that they may appear unto the good opinion, of his fellow- 
men to fast. Yerily I say unto you, creatures, it is the same as if he 
They have their reward. stole the favour of God. — Treatise 

17. But thou, when thou fastest, Chinim, p. 92 ; Josifta, Baba-Mezia, 
anoint thine head, and wash thy m. 

face : 



CONTEMPT OF WEALTH EX JOINED. 



Ill 



18. That tliou appear not unto 
men to fast, but unto thy Father 
which is in secret, and thy [the] 
Father which seeth in secret shall 
reward thee [openly]. (Not in Cod. 
Sin.) 

19. Lay not up for yourselves 
treasure upon earth, where moth 
and rust doth corrupt, and where 
thieves break through and steal : 

20. But lay up for yourselves 
treasures in heaven, where neither 
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and 
where thieves do not break through 
nor [and] steal : 

21. For where your [thy] treasure 
is, there will your [thine] heart be 
also. 



22. The light of the body is the 
eye : if [therefore] thine eye be 
single, thy whole body shall be full 
of light. 

23. But if thine eye be evil, thy 
whole body shall be full of darkr.ess. 
If therefore the light that is in thee 
be darkness, how great is that dark- 
ness ! 

24. No man can serve two mas- 
ters : for either he will hate the one, 
"and love the other ; or else he will 
hold to the one, and despise the 
other. Ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon. 



Lay up thy treasure according to 
the commandments of the Most 
High, and it shall bring thee more 
profit than gold. — Eccl. xxix. 11. 

I wish to amass inexhaustible 
treasures while my ancestors have 
only sought for perishable wealth in 
this world. -Baba-Batkra, p. 11. 

1 will only teach my son the law, 
for we live on its fruits in this world, 
and the capital is preserved for us 
for the life to come. — R. Xehorai, 
Mischna, KMuschin, f. 82. 

Be not as servants who serve their 
master for a salary, but be rather as 
servants who serve their master 
without hope of reward. — Talmud, 
Antigone of Socho (b.c. 200), Pirke- 
Abot, 1. 

The wise man's eyes are in his 
head ; but the fool walketh in dark- 
ness. — Eccles. ii. 14. 



poverty nor 



Give me neither 
riches. — Prov. xxx. 8. 

Riches are good unto him that 
hath no sin, and poverty is evil in the 
mouth of the ungodly. — Eccl.xiii. 24. 

He that loveth gold shall not be 
justified, and he that followeth cor- 
ruption shall have enough thereof. — 
Eccl. xxxi. 5. 

Contempt of mammon or wealth was never taught among 
the Jews until the Essenes arose. Before that it was taught 
that it was not right to seek for excessive wealth, only for a 
sufficiency. 



25. Therefore I say unto you, 
Take no thought for your life, what 
ye shall eat [or what ye shall drink], 
nor yet for your [the] body, what 
ye shall put on. Is not the life more 
than meat, and the body than rai- 
ment ? 



Commit thy way unto the Lord ; 
trust also in him, and he shall bring 
it to pass. — Ps. xxxvii. 5. 

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, 
and he shall sustain thee. — Ps. lv. 
22. 

The young lions do lack, and su/- 



112 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



26. Behold the fowls of the air : 
for they sow not, neither do they 
reap, nor gather into barns : yet 
your heavenly Father feedeth them. 
Are ye not much better than they? 

27. "Which of you by taking 
thought can add one cubit to his 
stature ? [can add to his life one span, 
literally one cubit. — Cod. Sin.J. 

28. And why take ye thought for 
raiment ? Consider the lilies of the 
field, how they grow ; they toil not, 
neither do they spin : 

29. And yet I say unto you, That 
even Solomon in all his glory was 
not arrayed like one of these. 

The magnificence of Solomon's dress was proverbial in 
Israel. 



fer hunger, but they that seek the 
Lord shall not want any good thing. 
— Ps. xxxiv. 10. 

The young lions roar after their 
prey, and seek their meat from God. 

These all wait upon thee that 
thou mayest give them their meat in 
due season. — Ps. civ. 21, 27. 

In whose hand is the soul of every 
living thing, and the breath of all 
mankind? — Job xiii. 10. 

Yet their lives were prolonged for 
a season and time. — Dan. viii. 12. 

Thou openest thine hand, and sa- 
tisfiest the desire of every living 
thing. 



80. Wherefore, if God so clothe 
the grass of the field, which to-day 
is, and to-morrow is cast into the 
oven, shall he not much more 
clothe you, O ye of little faith ? 

31. Therefore take no thought, 
saying, What shall we eat? or, What 
shall we drink, or, Wherewithal 
shall we be clothed ? 

32. (For after all these things do 
the Gentiles seek:) for your hea- 
venly Father [for God your Father] 
knoweth that ye have need of all 
these things. 

33. But seek ye first the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness [his 
kingdom and righteousness] and all 
these things shall be added unto 
you. 

34. Take therefore no thought for 
the morrow : for the morrow shall 
take thought for the things of itself 
[shall take thought for itself ]. Suf- 
ficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof. 

Matthew, Chapter VII. 

1. Judge not, that ye be not 
judged. 

2. For with what judgment ye 
judge ye shall be judged: and with 
what measure ye mete it shall be 
measured to vou again. 



Who giveth food to all flesh. — 
Ps. cxxxvi. 25. 

He giveth to the beast his food, 
and to the young ravens which cry. 
— Ps. cxlvii. 9. 



fear the Lord, ye his saints, for 
there is no want to them that fear 
him. — Ps. xxxiv. 9. 



What should a man do to live? 
Let him die. What should he do 
to die? Let him live. — Talmud, 
Treatise Tamid, p. 32. The Legend 
of Alexander the Great. 

He who has but a morsel of bread 
in his basket, and who asks himself, 
What shall I eat to-morrow? is a 
man of little faith. — Talmud, Trea- 
tise Sota. 

Trouble suffices for each hour. — 
Treatise Berachoth, f. 9. 



Judge not thy neighbour so long 
as thou art not thyself in his place. 
— Treatise Aboth. 

Man is measured by the measure 
he hath made use of. — Treatise Sota. 

He who judges his neighbour cha- 
ritably will be judged charitably by 
God.— Treatise Schabbath, i. 27. 



THE TEACHING OF IIILLEL. 



113 



o. And why belioldest thou the 
mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 
considerest not the beam that is in 
thine own eye? 

4. Or how wilt thou say [or how 
sayest thou] to thy brother, [Bro- 
ther,] let me pull out the beam out 
of thine eye; and behold, a beam is 
in thine own eye? 

5. Thou hypocrite, first cast the 
beam out of thine own eye [cast out 
of thine own eye the beam] ; and 
then shalt thou see clearly to cast 
out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

6. Give not that which is holy 
unto the dogs, neither cast ye your 
pearls before swine, lest they tram- 
ple them under their feet, and turn 
again and rend you. 

7. Ask, and it shall be given unto 
you : seek, and ye shall find; knock, 
and it shall be opened unto you : 

8. For every one that asketh re- 
ceiveth; and he that seeketh find- 
eth ; and to him that knocketh it 
shall be opened. 

9. Or what man is there among 
you, whom if his son ask [of whom 
his son shall ask] bread, will he give 
him a stone ? 

10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give 
him a serpent? 

11. If ye then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your 
Father which is in heaven give good 
things to them that ask him ? 

12. [Therefore] all things what- 
soever ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye even so to them, for 
this is the law and the prophets. 



13. Enter ye in at the strait gate, 
for wide is the gate and broad is 
the way [for wide and broad is the 
way] that leadeth to destruction, and 
many there be which go in thereat. 

14. Because strait is the gate, and 
narrow is the way which leadeth 
unto life, and few there be that find 
it. 

15. Beware of false prophets, 
which come to you in sheep's 
clothing, but inwardly they are 
ravening wolves. 



Physician, first heal thine own 
wound. — Midrasch - Rabba-Beres- 
chit, xxiii. 

Who knows how to retrace his 
steps ? says R. Tryphon; who knows 
how to profit by remonstrances ? — 
Alas ! if one says to any one, Take 
out that mote which is in thine eve, 
one is answered, Take out that beam 
which is in thine. — Treatise Ara- 
khin, f. 10. 



Speak not in the ears of a fool, for 
he will despise the wisdom of thy 
words. — Prov. xxiii. 9. 



The gates of prayer are never shut. 
— Treatise Sota, p. 49a. 

Then shall ye call upon me, and 
ye shall go and pray unto me, and I 
will hearken unto you, and ye shall 
seek me and find me, when ye shall 
search for me with all your heart. — 
Jer. xxix. 12, 13. 



Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
thyself. — Lev. xix. 18. 

Do not unto others that which it 
would be disagreeable to thee to 
experience thyself. This is the chief 
commandment — all the rest is but 
the commentary upon it.— Hillel, 
Talmud- Sabbat, 306. 

The way of sinners is made plain 
with stones. 



Thus saith the Lord concerning 
the prophets that make my people 
err, that bi'te with their teeth, and 
cry Peace. — Micah iii. 5. 



114 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



This verse and the following are not in Luke, and v. 18 is 
connected with v. 5 respecting the mote and the beam. The 
epithets false prophet in sheep's clothing, ravening wolf, 
worker of iniquity, caster- out of devils, doer of wonderful 
works, he who says, Lord, Lord, and does cot the will of 
God, are all used of Paul. The corrupt tree is faith, the 
good tree represents works. Luke vi. 45 is in quite a 
different connection in Matthew, where it is found in c. 
xii. 35. 



16. Ye shall know them by their 
fruits. Do men gather grapes of 
thorns, or figs of thistles ? 

17. Even so every good tree 
bringeth forth good fruit, but a cor- 
rupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 

18. A good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt 
tree bring forth good fruit. 

19. Every tree that bringeth not 
forth good fruit is hewn down, and 
cast into the fire. 



20. Wherefore by their fruits ye 
shall know them. 



21. Not every one that saith unto 
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven, but he that 
doeth the will of my Father which 
is in heaven. 



22. Many will say to me in that 
day, Lord, Lord, have we not pro- 
phesied in thy name ? and in thy 
name have cast out [many] devils? 
and in thy name done many wonder- 
ful works ? 

23. And then will I profess unto 
thee, I never knew you: depart 
from me, ye that work iniquity. 

24. Therefore whosoever heareth 
these sayings of mine, and doeth 
them, I will liken him [shall be 



For the works of a man shall he 
render unto him, and cause every 
man to find according to his ways. 
— Job xxxii. 11. 

Therefore will 1 judge you, 
house of Israel, each one according 
to his ways. — Ezek. xviii. 30. 

Thou renderest to man according 
to his work.— Ps. lxxii. 3. 

Providence sees all : liberty is 
granted: the world is judged by 
goodness, and everything is recom- 
pensed according to works. — Pirke'- 
Abot, III. 19. 

If thou sayest, Behold we know 
it not, doth not he that pondereth 
the heart consider it ? And he that 
keepeth thy soul, doth he not know 
it ? And shall not he render to 
every man according to his works ? 
— Prov. xxiv. 12. 

Trust ye not in lying words, say- 
ing, The temple of the Lord, the 
temple of the Lord, the temple of 
the Lord are these. For if ye 
thoroughly amend your ways and 
your doings . . . then will I 
cause you to dwell in this place, in 
the land that I gave to your fathers, 
for ever and ever. — Jeremiah vii. 
4-7. 

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, 
we know thee. — Hos. viii. 2. 



Depart from me, all ye workers of 
iniquity. — Ps. vi. 8. 

My son, gather thou instruction 
from thy youth up : so shalt thou 
find wisdom till thine old age. Come 



CONDEMNATION OF THE PAULINE TEACHING. 



115 



likened] unto a wise man, which 
built his house upon a rock : 

25. And the rain descended, and 
the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house : and it 
fell not, for it was founded upon a 
rock. 

26. And every one that heareth 
these sayings of mine, and doeth 
them not, shall be likened unto a 
foolish man which built his house 
upon the sand : 

27. And the rain descended, and 
the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house ; and it 
fell: and great was the fall thereof. 



to her as one that ploweth and 
soweth, and wait for her good fruits: 
for- thou shalt not toil much in la- 
bouring about her, but thou shalt 
eat of her fruits right soon. — Eccl. 
vi. 18, 19. 

As timber girt and bound toge- 
ther in a building cannot be loosed 
without shaking, so the heart that 
is stablished by advised counsel 
shall fear at no time, A heart 
settled upon a thought of under- 
standing is as a fair plaistering in the 
wall of a gallery. Pales set on an 
high place will never stand against 
the wind: so a fearful heart in the 
imagination of a fool cannot stand 
against any fear. — Eccl. xxii. 16-18. 



l 2 



116 GOSrEL HISTOIiY, 



CHAPTEE IV. 

The teaching contained in the Sermon on the Mount and in 
the Old Testament is by no means exclusively of Jewish 
origin. We find it in existence in countries far remote from 
Judsea at a period when it was certainly not incorporated 
with Jewish teaching. In the Lun-Tu, or Philosophical 
Conversations of Confucius (who died B.C. 478), is the follow- 
ing passage : " The philosopher said, ' San ! ' (the name of 
his disciple Thsing-tsen) 6 my doctrine is easy and simple to 
be understood.' Thsing-tsen replied, ' That is certain.' The 
philosopher having gone out, his disciples asked what their 
master had meant to say. Thsing-tsen replied, ' The 
doctrine of our master consists solely in possessing rectitude 
of heart, and in loving one's neighbour as oneself.' " This 
passed about half a century later into that portion of Leviticus 
which was composed in the reign of Nehemiah. But the 
doctrine is in reality of much greater antiquity, for Zoroaster 
says in gate the 71st of his Sadder, " Offer up thy grateful 
praises to the Lord, the most just and pure Ormuzd, the 
supreme and adorable God, who thus declared to his prophet 
Zardusht (Zoroaster), ' Hold it not meet to do unto others 
what thou wouldest not have done to thyself: do that unto 
thy people, which, when done to thyself, proves not dis- 
agreeable to thyself.' " 

There is also the beautiful A'rya couplet, which pro- 
nounces the duty of a good man, even at the instant of his 
destruction, to consist, " not only in forgiving, but even in a 
desire to benefit his destroyer, as the sandal tree at the 
moment of its overthrow sheds perfume on the axe which 
fells it." Sadi, the Persian, has also written verses in which 
he says, " The virtuous man confers benefits on him who 
has injured him," using an Arabic sentence, and apparently 
adopting an ancient Arabic maxim. Hafiz, too, who cannot 
be suspected of having borrowed this doctrine, says : — 



THE ESSENES. 117 

ft Learn from yon orient shell to love thy foe, 
And store with pearls the hand that brings thee woe. 
Free like yon rock from base vindictive pride, 
Imblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side. 
Mark, when yon tree rewards the stormy shower 
"With fruit nectareous, or the balmy flower, 
All Nature calls aloud, shall man do less 
Than heal the smiter, and the railer bless ? " 

It would be easy to multiply instances, but we must 
return to the consideration of the immediate origin of the 
Gospel narratives. 

The sect known as the Ebionites or Essenes had obtained 
considerable influence among the lower orders of the Jews 
at the period immediately preceding the Christian era. 
Calmet has observed that neither Jesus, nor the evangelists, 
nor the authors of the Epistles have mentioned this sect, and 
this silence shows that the Judseo-Christians were either a 
branch of this sect, or were themselves Essenes. These 
Essenes, who seem to be mentioned by Epiphanius and 
Eusebius by the name of 'Isao-at ol, or Jesseeans, a name which 
they say was given to the first Christians, became afterwards 
known as Nazarites, a name taken from Gen. xlix. 26, where 
it is said that Joseph was a ISTazarite ("in) among his brethren, 
for he was separated from them by his rank. 

There were Essenean settlements at Rome, Corinth, and in 
Galatia, and it is from them that the learned Manichsean 
Christians say that the collection of traditions or histories was 
made by Papias, Hegesippus, &c, or their informants, they 
having formed part of their Scriptures. Eusebius, as has 
already been shown, says in the most positive manner, 
speaking of the Therapeutse, who were the same sect as the 
Ebionites, Essenes, &c, that " the ancient writings made use 
of by this sect were in all probability none other than our 
gospels and apostolic writings, and that certain Diegeses, 
after the manner of allegorical interpretations of the ancient 
prophets, were the epistles. " Tap 8' sikos a <f>r]criv apxolwv 
irap'avrols uvea" avyypa/jbfjLara, suayysXla, real ras twv airocrToXwv 
r/pa&av. AfrjyrjcrsLS rs tlvzs Kara to sl/cbs twv iraXai Trpofa'/Tcov 
sp/iirji'svTiKas, s7TL(TToXas ravra shut,. (H. E., 1. ii. c. 16.) He then 
gives an account of them from Philo, who must have written 
this description when Jesus was not more than ten years old, 
and at least fifty years before the existence of any of our 
epistles or gospels, and in the whole of whose writings there 



118 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

is not the least allusion to Christ, although he was at Jeru- 
salem during the period of his ministry. 

According to this account, as soon as they entered upon 
the prophetic life, they divested themselves of all the reve- 
nues of their estates, " as it is recorded in the accredited 
Acts of the Apostles that all the associates of the apostles, 
after selling all their possessions and substance, distributed 
to all according to the necessity of each one, so that there 
was none in want among them." Persons resorted to Lake 
Maria, where the Therapeutse had founded a colony, from all 
parts of the world. Philo says, " in every house there is a 
sacred shrine which is called the holy place, and the monas- 
tery in which they retire by themselves and perform all the 
mysteries of a holy life, bringing in nothing, neither meat, 
nor drink, nor anything else which is indispensable towards 
supplying the necessities of the body, but studying in that 
place the laws and the sacred oracles of God." He also says 
that " the explanations of the sacred Scriptures are delivered 
by mystic expressions in allegories, for the whole of the law 
appears to these men to resemble a living animal, and its 
express commandments seem to be the body, and the invi- 
sible meaning concealed under and lying beneath the plain 
words resembles the soul in which the rational soul begins 
most excellently to contemplate what belongs to itself, as in 
a mirror, beholding in these very words the exceeding beauty 
of the sentiments, and unfolding and explaining the symbols, 
and bringing the secret meaning naked to the light to all 
who are able, by the light of a slight intimation, to perceive 
what is unseen by what is visible." A striking proof of 
resemblance to the Judseo-Christians is that they would not 
eat anything that had blood in it (Conf. Acts xvi. 29). 

The Ebionites, or Nazarites, obeyed the laws of Moses 
most scrupulously, and had the greatest confidence in the 
prophecies of the Old Testament. Hence the character of 
Jesus is made to resemble that of Joshua, who is called 
Jesus in the New Testament (Philo also calls him 'lrjaow, 
that is one who came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it). 
This is exactly the character which tradition gave to Joshua, 
who, as the successor of Moses, fulfilled the mission of that 
legislator by establishing the people of God in the promised 
land (see Philo, Uspl tf>i\av6 pair las). The Jews consider that 
the sect of the Ebionites originated at the period when the 



ORIGIN OF THE PHARISEES. 119 

Cohanim, or sons of Aaron, claimed a superiority over the 
rest of the Levites, which appears to have been in the reign 
of Jehoshaphat, or perhaps earlier. The usual results fol- 
lowed, and while the dominant caste allowed the Jewish re- 
ligion to fall into abeyance, and did not oppose the worship 
of idols, the Levites continued poor and attached to their 
primitive faith. 

Before the final defeat and death of Judas Maccabseus at 
Eleasa, when the whole Jewish nation went into mourning 
(1 Mace. ix. 18-21), he had endeavoured to procure the 
assistance of the Romans, and the Asmonean princes had 
also endeavoured to obtain the assistance of Mithridates I., 
the king of Parthia. This displeased a powerful party called 
the Assideans, who were originally only distinguished by 
their exemplary piety from the rest of the people. The 
word 'Hassid means a perfectly pious man. It is derived 
from ~iDn, grace, charity, and signifies a person whose love 
embraces all that exists. This parly placed all their con- 
fidence in God, and held that he would do unto their enemies 
as he did unto the Midianites, to Sisera, -and to the other 
enemies of Israel (Ps. lxxxiii. 9, 10). Besides these two 
parties there was a third, the Hellenists, who were in favour 
of the enemy. 

The Assideans were the ancestors of the Pharisees and of 
the Ebionites or Essenes. They not only observed in the 
most scrupulous manner the Mosaic law and the ordinances 
of the sopherim, or scribes, but subjected themselves to 
voluntary mortifications, abstained from wine temporarily 
or for life, and submitted to the rules of Levitical purity. 
Jose ben Joeser of Zeuda, one of the Assideans who were 
put to death by Bacchides, preserved the same degree 
of purity with regard to garments and other particulars as 
the priests (Haguiga, 18b). 

This party considered every engagement which was not 
regulated by the law as a sin. The Mischna (Aboth, VI. 4) 
gives an idea of the asceticism which they practised : " This 
is what the law teacheth thee to do : eat bread and salt, 
drink water in moderation, sleep on the ground, lead a life 
of mortification, and study the law." Jose ben Johanan of 
Jerusalem, who was a colleague of Jose ben Joeser in the 
chief council or Council of the Elders (Sikne beth-din), used 
to exhort to the most unlimited charity, following the maxim 



120 GOSPEL history; 

of the Assideans, u Mine is thine, as tliine is mine " (Aboth, 
V. 13). He used to say, " Consider the poor as members of 
thy family," and at the same time recommended austerity, 
saying, "Do not talk much to women" (ib. I. 5). The 
principal occupation of the Assideans was the study of the 
law, and the transmission of oral tradition to posterity. 
Jose ben Joeser used to say, " Let thy house be a place of 
meeting for the doctors of the law; sit at their feet, and 
quench thy thirst with their words." It was on this account 
that the men who belonged to this party were also called 
scribes {jpa/n/jLards). The words Scribe and Assidean are 
always synonymous (1 Mace. vii. 12, 13; 2 Mace. vi. 18). 
In their capacity of scribes they filled the functions of 
magistrates and doctors of the law, and thus exerted a great 
influence over the education of youth and over the people 
generally. 

The Hellenistic party were diametrically opposed to the 
Assideans. This party dates from the time of Jason, who 
obtained the dignity of high priest from Antiochus Epi- 
phanes by means of bribes, and promised the king 150 
talents of silver more if he would allow him to establish a 
gymnasium for Greek sports, which he actually set up in the 
outer court of the Temple, and made the young men wear 
hats. The Greek fashions and religion became so prevalent 
that the priests deserted the Temple, neglected the sacri- 
fices, and resorted to the gymnasium (2 Mace. iv. 7-15). 
This party naturally excited the indignation of the stricter 
Jews. 

The three surviving sons of Mattathias were at the head 
of the patriotic party, and after many struggles Jonathan 
succeeded in obtaining an honourable peace. During the 
nine years of his government (b.c. 152-154) he succeeded in 
increasing the power of the Jewish nation to so great an 
extent that he laid the foundation of an independent state. 
His brother Simon, who succeeded him, enlarged the frontiers 
of Judsea, raised numerous fortresses, and freed the people 
entirely from the domination of Syria. In his time " the an- 
cient men sat in all the streets communing together of great 
things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. 
. . . He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great 
joy, for every man sat under his vine and his fig-tree, and 
there were none to fray them" (1 Mace. xiv. 0-12). He also 



THE ASSIDEANS. 3 21 

annihilated the remainder of the Hellenists, who were en- 
trenched in Gaza r a, Bethsura, and the Acra or Citadel of 
Jerusalem. The latter fortress, which had held out for 
twenty-three years, was taken on the 23rd of May, B.C. 141, 
and the Jewish soldiers entered it, preceded by a band of 
music, and singing religious songs. From this date the 
Jewish nation became more than ever exclusive and de- 
voted to their peculiar faith. 

From the time when the Asmonean princes first became 
victorious, the more pious among the Assideans had given 
themselves up more and more to religious study and prac- 
tices. After the final victory, those who were the allies of 
the patriotic party became divided, some taking to public 
affairs, war, and diplomacy, while the greater number gave 
themselves up to the study of the law, to legislation, to ad- 
ministration, and to internal government. Hence arose two 
parties, the Sadducees, or aristocratic party, and the Phari- 
sees, or scribes, who formed the democratic party, which 
befriended or was hostile to the Asmonean dynasty according 
as the latter favoured the Mosaic law or otherwise. The 
people of course always favoured the democratic party. 

Simon had the confidence of the people and of the Phari- 
sees during the whole of his life. He, however, committed 
the fatal error of sending an ambassador, Munenius, to Rome, 
with a present of a great shield of a thousand pounds weight, 
to confirm the league with the Romans, thus placing Judsea 
under the protection of that empire, which, less than two 
centuries later, required that one of its emperors should 
receive divine honours in the Temple of Jerusalem ; and 
which, thirty years afterwards, destroyed Jerusalem, and 
finally dispersed the nation. 

Some years later the Assideans were composed of the Assi- 
deans proper, who were afterwards called the Essenes, and of 
the Pharisees, or Separatists, so called because, like the 
Essenes, they abstained from all illegal pleasures. They had 
nothing in common with the sacerdotal class. Unlike the 
Sadducees, who thought that in temporal affairs the maxims 
of worldly policy were to be followed, the Pharisees held 
that the laws and customs of their ancestors ought to be the 
sole rule of conduct for the state as well as for individuals. 
They appear to have been men who united to great personal 
austerity and indifference to wealth, great mildness in their 



122 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

magisterial functions. One of their principal men, Joshua ben 
Perachia, used to say to his disciples, "When you deliver 
sentence, always look for extenuating circumstances." No 
doubt many of them were hypocrites, but the Pharisees 
themselves held these up to public contempt, calling them 
"the painted ones " and "the sore of the Pharisees." Even 
those whose devotion only resulted from the fear of God 
were not held to be true brothers ; they only allowed those 
who obeyed the commandments of the law through love of 
God to be really Pharisees. (Babl. Sotah, 28 b ; Jerus. Sotah, 
iv.) 

The Sadducees differed from the Pharisees more in a poli- 
tical than a religious point of view. They held that if God 
has gifted man with free-will it is because he has made him 
master of his destiny, and that men receive here below the 
rewards and punishments of their evil actions. As legislators 
and magistrates they were inexorably severe, and interpreted 
the Mosaic law literally. This is the origin of their name, 
which is Zadouquim in Hebrew, derived from Zadig, the 
Just. 

The sect of the Essenes originated from the custom of 
making Nazarites recorded in the story of Samson, who is 
represented as being a Nazarite for life (Judges xiii. 7). 
Samuel also was vowed by his mother to be a Nazarite fur 
life (1 Sam. i. et sqq.). This sort of Nazarite is called Nazir 
olam. There was, however, another sort of Nazarites who 
only took temporary vows, and these are the only ones spoken 
of in the Pentateuch (see Numbers vi.), but after the 
return from the Captivity, the Assideans, or men of dis- 
tinguished piety, were not satisfied with observing the law 
as laid down in the Pentateuch, but became Nazarites for 
life. Thus they were obliged to give up all social intercourse 
in order to preserve that Levitical purity which it was incum- 
bent on them to do. Some even renounced marriage, not 
because they considered it as a sin, for there were married 
Essenes, but because according to the Mosaic law women 
stood frequently in need of purifications. The wars which 
took place during the reign of the Asmonean princes ulti- 
mately drove them into the desert, for the soldiers who 
returned from the field of battle might have been in contact 
with corpses, and this was sufficient to render the Nazir 
olam impure. They therefore settled in the oasis of Engadi 



RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE ESSENES. 123 

in the desert which is situated to the west of the Dead Sea, 
and lived on the dates which grew there in abundance. They 
had their meals in common, and found a precedent for this 
in the Passover, which was eaten in common by the guests. 
"From this to communism was but a step. Private property 
was useless to them, and each one gave up his possessions to 
the treasury of the Order, which provided for the general 
wants. 

Some of the Essenes who lived in the desert wore white 
linen dresses as an external symbol of the sacerdotal state 
which they had chosen (Lev. xvi. 4). Josephus, who was an 
eye-witness, and had lived amongst them, says that they put 
on these dresses for their meals, and that if any guests 
arrived they caused them to partake of their repasts. They 
wore aprons (keraphaim) in order to dry themselves after 
their ablutions. It is from this practice that their name of 
Baptists, Toble schacharith, 'H/xspo-JScnrTLaTal, is derived. 
They believed in the unity of God, in the immortality of the 
soul, and in a future life. Josephus says, "They do not 
speak until sunrise, except when they utter certain prayers 
which they have received from their fathers as if to invite 
that planet to rise." He also says, " They make use of 
frequent purifications, and fear to pollute the rays of the 
sun, the image of God. They alone offer no bloody sacrifices 
at the temple of Jerusalem. Symbols, parables, and allegories 
are familiar to them : in this they imitate tl^e ancients. 
Skilled in the use of minerals and simples, they cure gra- 
tuitously any sick persons who are brought to them." At 
sunrise they recited the Schemah, after which they used 
to assemble and continue their prayers in silence, for they 
had no other settled forms of prayer at that time. They 
abstained from speaking for some time before prayer, and 
observed the same silence at their meals, which they consi- 
dered as a sort of worship, the table representing the altar, 
and the food the sacrifices. These habits of silence naturally 
led them to those mystic speculations for which they were 
remarkable. 

They had several names for God besides those in the Old 
Testament, and they endeavoured by meditating on them to 
discover their hidden meaning, and those speculations, ac- 
cording to them, gave them the Holy Spirit, and the gift of 
prophecy. They in fact laid the foundation of Gnostic 



124 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

theosophy, which aimed at discovering the influence of God 
on the creation of the world and on the development of the 
human mind. They contemplated in a similar manner the 
names of the angels. These mysteries were disclosed to 
the initiated accompanied by certain ceremonies. Josephus 
says, " When a candidate for admission presents himself, 
they try him for three years, one of which is passed outside 
the house, and two inside. Before admitting him they make 
him promise with terrible oaths to serve God, to love man- 
kind, to avoid wicked persons, to protect the wealthy, to 
keep faith with every one, and especially with the Prince ; 
they also make him swear that he will never betray the 
secrets of the association to others ; that he will keep them 
secret at the peril of his life, and will teach nothing but 
what he has learnt from his masters ; that he will pre- 
serve the mystical books of the Order, and the traditional 
names of the angels." Those who were initiated in the first 
degree were called Zennim. There were three degrees of 
initiation altogether, preparation for which was made in the 
low^r degrees by the practice of austerity and the acquisition 
of knowledge. 

The great aim of the Essenes was to revive the pretended 
prophetic power of the earlier Nazarites. The prophets had 
long ceased to be heard, and they believe that by their mode 
of life they might be enabled again to hear the voice of God. 
The less they seemed likely to hear it the greater the auste- 
rities they subjected themselves to, in order that the Holy 
Spirit, the Bouah-ha-Kadesch, might descend upon them. 
They were convinced that on the day that they should again 
behold the celestial vision the kingdom of heaven (Malcouth- 
Schamaim), or the Messianic period, would have arrived, and 
would put an end to all evil. One of their number has 
stated clearly and concisely how these expectations were 
connected with the basis of their belief : " Step by step zeal 
for the law and Pharisaic purity lead to Hassidouth (to 
humility and hatred of sin) ; thence we arrive at the gift 
of the Holy Spirit, which will at last bring about the resur- 
rection of the dead by Elias, the forerunner of the Messiah " 
(see Mischna Sotah, fin.; Aboda Sara, 206 ; Jerus. Sabbat, 
I. p. 3 ; Schekalim, III., p. 47 ; Midrasch canticum, p. 3). 

The common people admired and revered the Essenes. 
Besides their piety, frugality, and readiness to succour others, 



MIRACULOUS CURES PERFORMED BY THEM. 125 

a certain air of mystery which has always been captivating to 
the vulgar surrounded them, added to which they were said 
to be able to perform miraculous cures. Some of them, such 
as Judas Man ahem, and Simeon, were said to be able to 
predict future events and to interpret dreams. Onias, 
another Essene, was said to be able to bring down rain from 
heaven in times of drought. Their medical skill was also a 
subject of wonder among an ignorant and credulous race. 
Since the Jews had been brought into contact with the 
Persians they believed in the existence of evil spirits or 
demons (Schedim, Mazihim). Any one wjiose mind was in 
any degree affected was said to be possessed by a demon, 
who must be exorcised before the patient could be relieved. 
All uncommon diseases, such as palsy, leprosy, excessive 
issues of blood, &c, were attributed to demoniacal agency. 
The Essenes pretended to excel in exorcism. They studied 
medicine in a book called Sepher- rephorioth, which was 
attributed to Solomon. They frequently made use of verses 
from the Old Testament and other formulas, which they 
recited in a low voice (Le'hischa) ; at other times they made 
use of roots or stones, to which they attributed a magic 
power, and it is probable that they also understood something 
of what is termed animal magnetism. The Pharisees re- 
garded them with the utmost contempt, and there is no doubt 
that the expression " pious fool " (Hassid Schota) which is 
applied in the Tahnud to those who withdraw themselves 
from the society of even the most pious persons is intended 
for them. Their system of exorcising by means of verses 
from the Old Testament excited, however, not their contempt, 
but their indignation, for they held it to be a profanation of 
the Scriptures, and considered exorcism to be a species of 
sorcery which was forbidden by the law of Moses. They 
therefore declared that those who practised exorcism were 
unworthy of the life to come. This explains the antagonism 
which is represented in the Gospels .as existing between the 
Nazarites or Judseo-Christians and the Pharisees, while it 
also shows how false such representations are as those in 
Matt. xii. 27, where the disciples of the Pharisees are repre- 
sented as casting out devils. It explains also the blasphemy 
against the Holy Spirit mentioned in Mark iii, 29, 30 and 
Matt. xii. 32, and shows how impossible it was for Jews who 
were not Essenes to believe in miracles which the law of 



126 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Moses taught them to look upon as witchcraft and sorcery. 
It would seem from Irengeus (1. II. c. 5), however, that some 
similar belief afterwards spread among the Jews, for he 
says, " The Jews even now by this same invocation of the 
name of God drive out devils," and Origen (Contra Gels. 1. Y.) 
says, " If a man invoke by the name of the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, the devils will try and do what they are 
commanded, but if he translates these names according to 
their meaning into any other language, they will have no 
force at all ! " 

The Ebionites,, that is the poor people, the name being de- 
rived from Ebjion, poor, were not looked upon as heretics 
by the early Fathers. Justin (Dial, cum Try ph., 48) says, 
" There are among the members of our creed some who ac- 
knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, but who consider him to 
be a man begotten by men." Tertullian says, " Ebion holds 
that Jesus Christ is only a man of the seed of David, that is 
to say, a man who is not the Son of God." Origen (Contra 
Cels. v. 61) says, "There are some among us who say that 
they are Christians, because they admit Jesus to be the 
Messiah, and who nevertheless, like the greater number of 
the Jews, observe steadfastly the law of Moses. Such are the 
Ebionites, both those who acknowledge with us that Jesus 
was born of a virgin, and those who refuse to believe it, and 
say that he was engendered in the same way as other men." 
This shows that in Origen's time (circa a.d. 250) there were 
two sorts of Ebionites. Eusebius (H. E. III. 27) says, "The 
Ebionites believe that Christ was only an ordinary man, born 
of a father and mother in the same way as other people, and 
was only distinguished from others by his virtue. They held 
that it was necessary to follow the Mosaic law. Others, 
who are also called Ebionites, admit that the Lord was born 
of the Virgin by the operation of the Holy Spirit, but they 
do not admit that he has been the Logos and the wisdom of 
his Father from all eternity. They pay as much respect as 
the others to the Mosaic rites. They reject all the epistles 
of the apostle (Paul), whom they call a renegade. They only 
use the Gospel according to the Hebrews, and hold the rest 
in no estimation at all." 

The Nazarites and Ebionites were neither considered to be 
different sects nor heretical, till Epiphanius and Jerome, in 
the fourth century, described them as such. Jerome says the 



THE EBIONITES. 127 

Nazarites were those who believed that Jesus was born of the 
Virgin Mary, but this distinction has been erroneously re- 
ferred to the first century, for Theodoret, who wrote long 
after Jerome, says " The ISTazarites are Jews who honour 
Jesus as being a just man." The Ebionites recognised Jesus 
as a Saviour, not in the sense of Wisdom xvi. 7, where God 
is called the Saviour of all, nor as their redeemer from the 
consequences of the sin of Adam, but merely as one who at 
the last judgment would acknowledge all who had recognised 
him as the Messiah in this world. In Epiphanius and in the 
Clementine Homilies certain Ebionites are spoken of who 
only recognised such pious men as had existed up to the time 
of Joshua as being true prophets, and who detested all the 
prophets of later date, especially David and Solomon (Epiph. 
Hseres. 30, 18). David, as being a sanguinary conqueror, 
was an object of special aversion to them, for they looked 
upon bloodshed as one of the greatest of sins, and David's 
adultery and Solomon's harem were objects of even greater 
abomination to them. 

The appearance of the Messiah was expected by many of 
the Jews to be attended by signs and miracles. Expressions 
such as Is. xxxv. 5 et sqq., which are merely metaphorical, 
and are a species of song of rejoicing over the fall of Babylon, 
were applied to the miracles which he was to perform. Ac- 
cording to this passage the eyes of the blind were to be 
opened, the ears of the deaf to be unstopped, the lame were 
to leap, and the tongue of the dumb was to sing. This por- 
tion of the book of Isaiah is not written by Isaiah, but by 
a later writer, who quotes from another portion of Isaiah 
(c. xiii.), which he calls the Book of Jehovah. Notwith- 
standing this, Jesus himself is represented (Matt. ii. 5) as 
referring to it. The same remark applies to another passage 
(Isa. xlix. 7), which was also applied to the Messiah, and 
which is a song of rejoicing for the return from Babylon 
written in the time of Zerubbabel. 

One of the chief passages relied on was Deut. xviii. 15, 
in which Moses is represented as saying, " The Lord thy 
God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of 
thy brethren like unto me ; unto him shall ye hearken." 
This passage, which is applied to the Messiah in Acts iii. 22 
and vii. 37, was written, as was the greater part of the book 
of Deuteronomy, in the reign of Josiah, and differs essen- 



128 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

tially from the earlier books, in that Moses, not Jehovah, is 
represented as uttering the commands. It also ignores the 
second chapter of Genesis, by ordering the Sabbath to be 
kept holy, not because God rested on that day, but because 
God had brought the Jews out of Egypt (Deut. v. 15). Some 
of the Rabbis, however, said that the second God, or Re- 
deemer, was to be similar to the first. Thus in Midrasch 
Kobeleth, f. 75, 3, it is said, " E. Berechias nomine R. 
Isaaci dixit: Quemadmodum Goel primus (Moses) sic etiam 
postremus (Messias) comparatus est. De Goele primo quid- 
nam Scriptura dixit, Exod. iv. 20 : Et sumpsit Moses uxorem 
et filios, eosque asino imprimit. Sic Goel postremus, Zach. 
ix. 9 : * Pauper et insidens asino. Quidnam de Goele primo 
nosti? is descendere fecit Man. q. d. Exod. xvi. 14: Ecce 
ego pluere faciam vobis panem de coelo. Sic etiam Goel 
postremus Manna descendere faciet, q. d. Ps. lxxii. 16 : Erit 
multitudo fermenti in terra. Quomodo Goel primus compa- 
ratus fuit ? is ascendere fecit puteum : sic quoque Goel postre- 
mus ascendere faciet aquas, q. d. Joel iv. 18 : Et fons e donio 
Domini egredietur, et torrentem Sittim irrigabit." Accord- 
ing to this mode of prophetic interpretation Moses setting his 
wife and sons upon an ass is a type of the triumphal entry 
into Jerusalem ! Christ, however, did not bring down manna 
from heaven, nor did he make a fountain come out of the 
house of the Lord to water the valley of Shittim, neither did 
he, as is said in Tauchuma, f. 54, 4, cause the sea to dry up 
as Moses did. 

Although the miracles which Je^us is represented as per- 
forming are of the most astonishing description, the people 
seem to be scarcely surprised at them. In John vii. 31 [Cod. 
Sin.] they do manifest some surprise however, but no con- 
viction, for they ask, " When Christ cometh will he do more 
miracles than these which this man doeth?" Their state 
of mind is probably correctly represented, for not only were 
they much influenced by the pretended miracles wrought by 
the Essenes, but the priests of the second temple themselves 
performed miracles, and imposed upon the people with as 
great success as Christian priests have in later times. In 
Treatise Rosch Haschanah we are told that on the Day of 
Atonement a scarlet thread used to be fastened on the great 
interior door of the temple. As soon as the scape-goat 
which was loaded with the sins of the people attained the 



early christian miracles. 129 

desert, this scarlet thread became white, in order to fulfil 
the supposed prophecy in Isa. i. 18. This miracle was 
brought about by the prayer of the high priest. Besides 
this miracle there were ten standing miracles, one of which 
was that no woman was ever inconvenienced by the bad 
smell of the meat offered in sacrifice ; another, that no fly 
was ever seen in the sacred slaughter-house ; another, that 
no serpent or viper ever bit anybody in Jerusalem ; another, 
that rain never extinguished the sacred fire, &c. It must be 
admitted that though the priests refused to admit the 
miracles of the Essenes, they had plenty of their own. 

There are absolutely no limits to human credulity on this 
subject. Eusebius assures us on the authority of the elders 
of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne, that the bodies of 
some of the martyred saints of those churches were found 
alive and uninjured in the stomachs of the wild beasts who 
had devoured them. Tertullian (De An. c. 51) says that 
the body of a Christian which had been some time buried 
moved itself to one side of the grave in order to make room 
for another corpse which was going to be laid beside it. St. 
Jerome (Epist. 1. III. De vita Hilarionis) says that St. 
Hilarion, who was a disciple of St. Anthony, used to heal 
those who were possessed, the palsied, and the blind in the 
same way as Christ and the Emperor Vespasian did, that is, 
by touching them, by words, and by saliva : while legions 
of devils were unable to hold their own for an hour against 
this holy personage. Eusebius says that when the Emperor 
Marcus Aurelius was about to engage in battle with the 
Germans and Sarmatians, he and his army were suffering 
from thirst. Upon this the Christian soldiers that be- 
longed to the Melitine legion fell on their knees and 
began to pray, whereupon lightning came down from 
heaven and dispersed and destroyed the enemy, and a 
shower came down and refreshed the Roman arnry. On 
this account, he adds, this legion was called the fulmi- 
nea, or thundering legion. Tertullian (who is quoted by 
Eusebius) tells this lie with a circumstance, for he says, 
" There are epistles of the most learned Emperor Marcus 
still extant, in which he himself bears testimony that when 
his army was ready to perish for want of water, it was saved 
by the prayers of the Christians." These statements sink 
into nothingness beside the account of a Christian dog, who 

K 



130 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

used to slide along on his haunches to receive the Sacrament. 
This dog was canonized by the Pope, and many miracles 
have been wrought at his shrine in the parish church of San 
Andres, near Valladolid. 

Eusebius objects to the miracles attributed to Apollonius 
Tyanseus in much the same way as the Jews are said to 
have objected to those attributed to Jesus. In his answer 
to Hierocles (c. 35), after enumerating the miracles which 
Apollonius in the fourth book of his Life, by Philostratus, is 
said to have performed, he says, " Such are the miracles which 
Apollonius is said to have worked. It would be well to ex- 
amine the circumstances attending them, in order to show 
that, even if these deeds should be true, they ought only to 
be attributed to the assistance Apollonius may have received 
from the devil." The early Christians accused Apollonius of 
sorcery, and their writers termed him an impostor and a 
worker of false miracles, which however they did not deny 
that he performed. St. Chrysostom says, " that miracles are 
only proper to excite sluggish and vulgar minds, that men 
of sense have no occasion for them, and that they frequently 
carry some untoward suspicions along with them." This is 
true, for not only are miracles, according to the Bible itself, 
insufficient to prove the divine mission of any one, but they 
are also insufficient to prove any doctrine, and are thus 
entirely useless. The following illustration of the inutility 
of miracles to prove any doctrinal statement is abridged 
from the Talmud (Treatise Baba-Mezia) : — 

" On that day R. Eliezer ben Orcanaz replied to all the 
questions that were put to him, but his arguments having 
been found to be inferior to his pretensions, the doctors who 
were present condemned his answers, and refused to admit 
his conclusions. Then R. Eliezer said to them, c My doc- 
trine is true, and this karoub tree which is near us will show 
how true my conclusions are.' Immediately the tree, obey- 
ing the voice of R. Eliezer, arose out of the ground and planted 
itself a hundred cubits farther off. But the Rabbis shook 
their heads, and answered, ' The karoub tree proves nothing.' 
' What ! ' cried Eliezer, ' you resist so great a testimony of 
my power ! Then let this rivulet flow backwards, and at 
length attest the truth of my teaching.' Immediately the 
rivulet, obeying the command of Eliezer, flowed backwards 
towards its source. But the Rabbis continued to shake their 



THE TALMUD OX MIRACLES. 131 

heads, and said, ' The rivulet proves nothing.' c How ! ' said 
Eliezer, ' yon do not understand the power I make use of, 
and yet you do not believe the doctrine I teach ! ' The 
Rabbis, shaking their heads, answered, ' The Rabbis wish to 
understand before they believe.' 6 Will you believe me,' 
said Eliezer, ' if the walls of this house of study fall down at 
my command ? ' And the walls, obeying him, began to fall, 
when R. Joshua exclaimed, ' By what right do the walls in- 
terfere in our debates ? ' 'And the walls stopped in their fall 
in honour of R. Joshua, but did not recover their upright 
position in honour of R. Eliezer, and the Talmud says ironi- 
cally that they are still leaning. Then R. Eliezer, mad with 
rage, cried out, 6 Then, in order to confound you, and since 
you compel me to it, let a voice from heaven be heard.' And 
immediately the Bath-kol (the voice from heaven) was heard 
at a great height in the air, and it said, s However numerous 
ye may be, what are ye compared to R. Eliezer ? What are 
all your opinions together against his opinions ? When he 
has spoken, his opinion ought to prevail.' Hereupon R. 
Joshua rose and said, ' It is written, The law is not in heaven 
(Deut. xxx. 12), it is in thy mouth and in thy heart (ib. v. 
16). Jt is also in your reason, for it is written, ' I have left 
you free to choose between life and death and good and evil ' 
(ib. v. 15 and 19), and it is in your conscience ; for if ye love 
the Lord and obey his voice (v. 19), that is the voice by 
which he speaks within ye, ye will find happiness and truth. 
Wherefore then does Rabbi Eliezer bring in a karoub tree, a 
rivulet, a wall, and a voice to settle such questions ? And 
what is the only conclusion which can be drawn from their 
introduction but that they who have studied the laws of na- 
ture have been mistaken, and that we must now admit that 
in certain cases a karoub tree can unroot itself and move a 
hundred cubits off; that in certain cases rivulets flow back- 
wards towards their sources ; that in certain cases walls obey 
a command as iron does the magnet, and that in certain cases 
voices from heaven teach doctrines ? But what connection 
is there between the observations which relate to natural 
history and the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer ? WTiat connec- 
tion is there between the roots of the karoub tree, the rivulets, 
the stones of the walls, the voices from on high, and logic ? 
No doubt these miracles were very extraordinary, and they 
have filled us with astonishment, but to wonder is not to 

K 2 



132 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

answer, and it is arguments, not phenomena, that we re- 
quire. When, therefore, Babbi Eliezer shall have proved to 
us that the karoub trees, the rivulets, the walls, and the un- 
known voices afford us, by their unusual movements, reason- 
ings equal in value to those which the eternal God has placed 
within us in order to serve as guides to our free-will, then 
alone will we make use of such testimonies, and estimate 
their number and the value of their assertions. Till then, 
Rabbi Eliezer, we will keep to the teaching of the law. No, 
Eliezer, it is in vain that, in such matters, you address your- 
self to our senses. Our senses may deceive us, and when they 
affirm what our reason denies, and what oar conscience dis- 
approves, we must reject the evidence of our senses, and only 
listen to reason, aided by conscience.' " This teaching is 
identical with that of Maimonides, who says, "When 
thy senses affirm that which thy reason denies, reject the 
perceptions of thy senses, and believe only in thy reason." 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 13i 



CHAPTER V. 

In Mark viii. 81 Jesus is represented as teaching Lis dis- 
ciples that he must " suffer many things, and be rejected of 
the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, 
and the third day rise again." This is repeated in almost 
the same words in Luke ix. 22, but in Matt. xvi. 21 it has 
been altered into " must suffer many things of the elders, 
and chief priests, and scribes," which he never did, and 
which is contradicted by the subsequent narrative. Six or 
eight da} 7 s after this the Transfiguration is said to have 
taken place (Mark ix. 2-8, and parallel passages). The ori- 
ginal passage [Cod. Sin.] states that he took Peter, James, 
and John into u an exceeding high mountain." In Matthew 
(xvii. i.) this has diminished into a " high mountain," and in 
Luke (ix. 26) is simply "a mountain." The fourth gospel, 
which is supposed to have been written by John, who was 
present, makes no mention of the Transfiguration whatever. 
Mark says that Jesus was transfigured, and that " his 
raiment became shining, exceeding white [' as snow ' is an 
addition], so as no fuller on earth can white them." In 
Matthew it is added that " his face did shine as the sun." 
Luke merely says that " the fashion of his countenance was 
altered." This is quite in accordance with Jewish traditions. 
Adam, Moses, and Joshua had all either shining garments 
or shining faces. Thus in Bereschith Rabba, 20, 29, it is 
said, " Yestes lucis vestes Adami primi," and " Tulgida fuit 
facies Mosis instar solis (the very expression applied to Jesus 
in Matthew), Josuse instar lunse ; quod idem afnrmarunt 
veteres de Adamo." In Exod. xxxiv. 29 it is said that 
" the skin of Moses' face shone." It is evident from a Jewish 
writing (Nizzachon vetus, p. 40) in which it is objected that 
Jesus could not be the Messiah because he did not resemble 
Moses in this respect, that the one narrative must have been 
founded on the other. This Jew knew nothing of the Trans- 



134 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

figuration scene mentioned in the gospels, nor would it have 
satisfied him, for he says that the Messiah's face ought to 
have been visible from one end of the earth to the other. 
The expressions in the gospels are identical with those in the 
LXX. in many places, especially the vscj)s\rj fywraivri (vecfrsXr) 
<Jxoto$, LXX.), the (fxovrj i/c rrjs v£(j)sXr]s, and the slaskQslv els 
ttjv vscpsXrjv (Luke ix. 34) . This seems to show that the nar- 
rative was compiled and inserted in order to meet the Jewish 
objection above stated. The voice out of the cloud is repre- 
sented as quoting from Ps. . ii. 7 and Isa. xlii. 1, as on the 
occasion of the baptism, and from Deut. xviii. 15, as to the 
second or concluding portion. The words are identical in 
Mark and Luke, but Matthew has added the words from 
Isaiah, so that it is impossible to know what the voice is 
really supposed to have said. The six days are imitated from 
Exod. xxiv. 16, where Moses is said to have been six days on 
Mount Sinai before the Lord called to him. Luke (ix. 28) 
says it was the eighth day, but the other gospels do not 
warrant this assertion. If Jesus were the Messiah, who was 
only to establish the kingdom of God after great struggles 
and sufferings, and for whom his disciples had to expect con- 
tests and danger of their lives (Matt. xvi. 21 et sqq.), it is 
difficult to see how this agrees with what the Scribes said 
(Matt. xvii. 10 et sqq.) that the restoration of all things by 
Elias should precede the coming of the Messiah, which Jesus 
himself confirms (ib. 11, 12). Moreover, the enquiry about 
Elias, and the answer of Jesus that Elias is indeed come in 
the person of John, cannot possibly agree with the statement 
that the original Elias appeared upon the mountain, which 
must be the original statement, to which the scene on the 
mountain must have been added. 

Some time after the Transfiguration Jesus, according to 
Mark (x. 1), leaves Galilee and comes by the farther side of 
Jordan into " the coasts " of Judsea, and in v. 46 we find him 
at Jericho. In Matt. xix. 1 this wonderful piece of geographi- 
cal information is made still more extraordinary, for we are 
told that he departed from Galilee and came into "the 
coasts of Judsea beyond Jordan." The word " coasts " is 
applied in such passages as Matt. xv. 21 to towns on the 
sea-coast, and we must suppose the writer's ignorance of 
geography to have been so great as to suppose that Jericho 
was on the sea ? or that the Mediterranean was on the other 



THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 135 

side of Jordan. Luke (ix. 51) contradicts both the other gos- 
pels by saying that he went to Jerusalem through Samaria. 
John (x. 40) makes him go " beyond Jordan into the place 
where John at first baptized." He then goes to Bethany, 
thence to Ephraim, a city about ten miles distant, whence 
he returns to Bethany, and thence goes to Jerusalem (c. xii. 1) . 
Thus two apostles, Matthew and John, the reputed authors 
of the gospels which bear their name, contradict each other in 
the most unequivocal manner on a simple matter of fact as 
to how Jesus reached Jerusalem on so memorable an occasion 
as his last journey to that place, and as all the apostles were 
with him (Matt. xxi. 1), it is quite impossible to reconcile 
such a contradiction. Mark (xi. 1) says that when Jesus came 
nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he 
sent two of his disciples into " the village over against them" 
with orders to take a colt upon which no man had ever sat 
and bring him. Matthew (xxi. 1) omits all mention of 
Bethany, and only speaks of Bethphage. Probably it was 
felt that the other statement did not admit of the " village 
over against you," which Bethany might supply the place of. 
Matthew (xxi. 2) says that there was an ass as well as a colt, 
and John (xii. 14), who, if he wrote the gospel attributed to 
him, must have been an eye-witness as well as Matthew, con- 
tradicts all three gospels by saying that Jesus himself "found 
a young ass," and thus the very objectionable proceeding of 
taking the animal is transferred from the apostles to Jesus 
himself. What proves this narrative to be unhistorical is 
that Jesus is represented as entering Jerusalem for the first 
time, which it is not possible that as a Jew it can have been. 
The result of this triumphal entry is represented to have 
been his condemnation and death. 

Mark (xiv. 1, Cod. Sin.) says, "After two days was the 
feast of the passover and of unleavened bread : and the chief 
priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by 
craft, and put him to death. For they said, Not on the feast 
day, lest there be an uproar of the people." In Matthew this 
statement is altered into a prediction of Jesus that he should 
be crucified, and instead of a fresh narrative commencing as 
in Mark, this prediction is joined to the preceding discourses. 
On this occasion we are told that " the chief priests and the 
elders of the people " assembled at " the palace of the high 
priest, who was called Oaiaphas." Luke omits this assembling 



136 GOSPEL HISTOKY. 

at the palace of Caiaphas, and the hesitation the priests felt 
at killing Jesus on the feast-day, and merely says that " the 
chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for 
they feared the people." He then goes on to state how the 
devil entered into Judas, and omits the story of the woman 
with an alabaster box of ointment, which is so abruptly in- 
troduced in Mark and Matthew, and which in the Gospel of 
the Infancy is connected with the circumcision of Christ 
(ii. 1-4). 

Mark says that Judas went to the chief priests to betray 
Jesus to them, and that they promised to give him money. 
Matthew says that it was thirty pieces of silver. Luke says 
that Satan entered into Judas at this time, bat makes no 
mention of the sum agreed upon, which he must therefore 
have considered as unimportant. 

Mark says that on the first day of unleavened bread, when 
they killed the passover, his disciples asked him where they 
should prepare for him to eat it. Jesus sends two of his dis- 
ciples with instructions to go into the city where they would 
meet a man bearing a pitcher of water, who would conduct 
them to an upper room, where they could make ready. 
Matthew (xxvi. 17-19) has altered this by specifying the 
man, but says nothing about the pitcher of water. Luke 
(xxiv. 7-13) has almost the same narrative as Mark, but has 
altered the two disciples into Peter and John, the latter of 
whom says nothing about this remarkable prediction. The 
synoptical gospels make Jesus eat the passover with his dis- 
ciples on the 14th Msan, the day preceding his death. The 
fourth gospel speaks of a mere ordinary supper (Bstirvov) 
which took place on the 13th Msan, and could have no con- 
nection with the passover at all. 

The agony of Jesus at Gethsemane consists in Mark of a 
prayer that the " cup " might be taken from him — in other 
words, that he might not be crucified, and, consequently, that 
this (supposed) expiatory sacrifice might not be accomplished. 
And he tells Peter that " the spirit truly is ready, but the 
flesh is weak." This is already sufficiently improbable con- 
duct for the Son of God, but Luke adds to it by informing us 
that " an angel appeared unto him from heaven strengthen- 
ing him," and that a blood}' sweat accompanied his earnest 
prayer. This alone would settle the question as to Matthew 
and John being the authors of the gospels attributed to 



THE BETRAYAL OF JESUS. lo7 

them, for Matthew was in the garden at the time, and says 
nothing ^about the angel, and John was one of the three dis- 
ciples who were near to Jesus, and is equally silent on the 
subject. If it is said that they were overcome with sleep, 
how did Luke learn that such an appearance took place ? 
Again, a bloody sweat is one of the rarest of phenomena, and 
is only a symptom of particular diseases. It can only be 
regarded in this place as a poetical expression or a mythical 
insertion. We cannot regard the account of what took place 
in the Garden of Gethsemane as historical, for it assumes 
that Jesus was divinely forewarned of what was going to 
happen to him, which is impossible, for if it had been so, he 
could not have made use of false interpretations of prophecies. 

While Jesus was exhorting the disciples to arise and go 
because he was about to be betrayed, Judas, it is said (Mark 
xiv. 43), comes with a great multitude armed with swords 
and staves, whom the chief priests, scribes, and elders had 
sent to apprehend him. Matthew and Luke have sub- 
stantially the same narrative, but in John the kiss of Judas 
is omitted, and Jesus himself declares " I am he," upon 
which all the men and officers fall to the ground (John xviii. 
6). Mark says that they led Jesus away to the high-priest, 
who is specified as Caiaphas in Matthew. In John xviii. 
13, on the contrary, Jesus is led to Annas, the father-in-law 
of Caiaphas, first, and in v. 24 Annas sends him bound to 
Caiaphas. In v. 14 it is said, " Now Caiaphas was he which 
gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man 
should die for the people." The fact is, that though Annas 
was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, Annas possessed the con- 
fidence of the Jews, and there was no participation of power 
between them whatever. Pilate, who was violent against 
the Jews, deposed Annas because he refused to submit to 
him, and named Caiaphas in his place in a.d. 26. Eleven 
years afterwards Yitellius, the successor of Pilate, who 
wished to please the Jews, nominated Jonathan, the son of 
Annas, to fill the office of high-priest. 

Luke (iii. 2) makes Annas and Caiaphas to be both high- 
priests, being evidently unaware that the Jews had but one 
high-priest, and that Annas had been deposed, and in Acts 
iv. 24 Annas is represented as being high-priest after the 
death of Jesus, whereas it was Jonathan the son of Annas 
who succeeded Caiaphas ! 



138 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Caiaphas and the chief priests, and the elders, and scribes 
(Mark xiv. 53 et sqq.) endeavoured to get false witnesses 
against Jesus, "but their testimony did not agree. r rfiis most 
improbable statement, which represents the chief men of 
Jerusalem as resorting to the meanest devices to entrap 
Jesus, and failing in doing so, is omitted by Luke and 
John. Caiaphas, having failed in this attempt himself, asks 
Jesus, " Answerest thou nothing ? " and again, " Art thou 
the Christ, the Son of God?" [Cod. Sin.]. Jesus answers, 
" I am, and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right 
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." This 
is taken from Dan. vii. 13, a portion of Daniel which be- 
longs to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, circa B.C. 170. 
The present quotation follows the LXX. and the Chaldee 
original. Matthew (xxvi. 64) has altered " with the clouds " 
into "in the clouds," referring to Jesus, whose coming in 
the clouds was expected (conf. Matt. xxiv. 30 and Mark xiii. 
26). The high-priest then rends his clothes, and pronounces 
Jesus to be guilty of blasphemy. 

In the morning the priests having consulted with the 
elders and scribes and the whole council, bound Jesus and 
took him to Pilate (Mark xv. 1). In Luke they again ask 
him whether he is the Christ. Jesus says to them, " If I 
tell you, ye will not believe, and if I also ask you, ye will not 
answer" (xxii. 67, Cod. Sin.). Upon their asking him 
whether he is the Son of God, he returns an evasive answer, 
and is then taken to Pilate. Pilate asks him, " Art thou the 
king of the Jews ? " and Jesus returns the same answer as he 
does in Luke (supra). The chief priests repeated their 
accusation, but Jesus made no reply to Pilate's question, 
" Answerest thou nothing ? " and ultimately Pilate, willing 
to content the people, releases a robber named Barabbas to 
them, scourges Jesus, whom, however, he had not found 
guilty (Matt, xxvii. 23, 24, Luke xxiii. 14-16), and delivers 
him to be crucified. 

The Pilate of history is the exact opposite of the Pilate of 
the gospels. Philo (Leg. ad Caium) says of him, " Pilate 
was of a violent and obstinate disposition, which could not 
lend itself to please the Jews One day some re- 
monstrances were addressed to him, but as he was of a 
violent and severe character, he resisted them. Then the Jews 
exclaimed, ' Cease to provoke seditions and wars, cease to ren- 



PONTIUS PILATE. 139 

der peace impossible. The will of Tiberius is that our laws 
shall be respected. If thou hast received any new edict or 
letter, let us know, that we may send a deputation imme- 
diately." These words only exasperated the procurator, 
who feared lest an appeal to Rome might disclose his crimes, 
the venality of his sentences, his robberies, his ruin of 
families, and the outrages of which he was the author, 
such as the punishment of persons who had never been tried, 
and excesses of cruelty of every description. 

Josephus says, " Between the people and the procurator 
there existed on either side nothing but hatred, contempt, 
menaces, and insults. One of the coercive measures which 
Pilate put in practice redoubled the animosity of the Jews. 
In order, as he said, to repair the aqueducts which brought 
water into Jerusalem, and to make other buildings, the 
Roman deputy wished, on his own authority, to take posses- 
sion of a reserve fund which was kept in the temple. Every 
fresh act of foreign usurpation, however it might be dis- 
guised, added to the fermentation. The procurator saw 
assemblies of the people form and increase in numbers. 
He ordered a portion of his troops and his agents to adopt 
the costume of the country, and to conceal large sticks under 
their cloaks. These men, thus disguised, mingled with the 
multitude, and on a preconcerted signal being given, fell 
both on the promoters of the tumult and on the peaceable 
inhabitants." (Bell. Jud. 1. ii. c. 9 ; Ant. Jud.) 

This tyrant, whose reign of terror lasted ten years, was 
appointed by Sejanus, the astute and powerful minister of 
Tiberius, and it was during his ministry that the first perse- 
cution of the Jews at Rome was commenced. " This," says 
Josephus, " was the reason why the Jews said that it was a 
settled design of Pontius Pilate to abolish the Jewish law." 
Such is the man who is represented in the gospels as sacri- 
ficing his own convictions and the honour of the Roman 
name, and allowing a judicial murder to take place in order 
" to content the people." 

Josephus tells us (Ant. Jud. xviii. ii. 2, xix. vi. 4, xviii. ii. 
1) that Annas, Isniael, Eleazar, and Simeon were suc- 
cessively deprived of the high priesthood by Valerius Gratus, 
the Governor of Judeea, on account of their hostility to the 
Romans. Josephus, surnamed Caiaphas (Ant. xviii. 4), that 
is, "the support" (of the Romans), held the office of high- 



140 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

priest for eleven years in succession, from a.d. 26 to a.d. 37, 
from which we may certainly conclude that his policy was 
different to that of his predecessors. The history of his fall 
as given by Josephus proves this to have been the case, for 
he says that he was deposed in a.d. 37 because Yitellius, 
who was prefect of Syria, wished to render himself popular 
with the Jews, and that this deposition was one of a series 
of measures intended to bring this about. His successor in 
fact was Jonathan, son of Annas, the former high-priest, who 
had been deposed for favouring the Jews. 

The Caiaphas of the Gospels resembles the Caiaphas of 
history as little as Pilate does. In the Gospels he is repre- 
sented as acting in concert with his father-in-law Annas, and 
with the chief priests and scribes, and never as acting under 
the orders of Pilate. The fact, however, is, that at this 
period the authority of the high-priest had been all but 
abolished in consequence of the action of the Roman pro- 
curator. Matters had come to such a pass that the room in 
the temple to which the high-priest retired on the Day of 
Atonement, and which was formerly called the Council 
Chamber, was then called the servant's cell. The Talmud 
v Talmud Baba, treatise Yoma) says, " The reason of this was 
that the dignity of high-priest was conferred for money." 

The object of the writers of the Gospels was to throw the 
whole blame of the illegal trial, condemnation, and cru- 
cifixion of Jesus on the Jews. With this object Caiaphas is 
made in Matt. xxvi. 62, 63 [Cod. Sin.] to address Jesus as 
follows: "And the high-priest arose and said unto him, I 
adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether 
thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Upon his answering 
that he was, Caiaphas rends his clothes, and proclaims that 
he has spoken blasphemy. The Council, consisting of the 
chief priests, elders, and all the council, then pronounce 
Jesus guilty of death. In Mark (xiv. 65) it is said, " some 
of them began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to 
buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy ; and the servants 
did strike him with the palms of their hands." In Matthew 
(xxvi. 67, 68) this is extended to the whole council, and we 
are required to believe that the highest dignitaries- in the 
nation, having first pronounced a sentence which they had 
no power to do, joined in this extraordinary treatment of an 
untried prisoner. Yet in Luke xiii. 31, we are told that 



THE TRIAL OF JESUS, 141 

some of the Pharisees warned Jesns to depart, because he 
was in danger from Herod, and in the next chapter we find 
him eating bread on the Sabbath-day in the honse of one of 
the chief Pharisees. In the third gospel all is altered, and 
the men that held Jesns are represented as reviling and 
smiting him, and striking him on the face, &c, before he is 
taken to the Council (Lukexxii. 65, 66). John (xviii. 22) 
says that it was one of the officers who struck Jesus with 
the palm of his hand when he was before Annas, not before 
Caiaphas. Thus we have three, if not four, distinct state- 
ments, all contradicting each other respecting a simple matter 
of fact. 

The Council before which Jesus is said to have been brought 
cannot have been the Grand Sanhedrim, for that was presided 
over by one of the descendants of Hillel, and Caiaphas was the 
president on this occasion. The trial is represented as turning, 
in reality, not on the saying imputed to Jesus that he could 
destroy the Temple of God and build it up in three days, 
which could not expose him to any punishment, but on his 
blasphemous pretension (quiddouf) to be the Son of God. 
In Mark (xiv. 60) Jesus answers the question of Caiaphas 
boldly, " I am," but in Matthew (xxvi. 64) he only says 
" Thou hast said," which might mean a denial. In Luke 
(xxii. 66-70) there is no high-priest at all, and Jesus answers 
the elders and the chief priests and scribes in the same eva- 
sive way, " Ye say that I am." In John (xviii. 13, 19-23) 
Jesus- is interrogated by Annas, and no reference whatever 
is made to his being the Son of God. Jesus himself in this 
Gospel contradicts in the most explicit manner the statements 
in the other Gospels by saying that his doctrine was perfectly 
orthodox and open. He tells Annas " I spake openly to the 
world ; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, 
whither all the Jews resort ; and in secret have I said nothing. 
Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me what I 
have said unto them : behold, they know what I said." (John 
xviii. 20, 21, Cod. Sin.) The Jews accuse him of being a 
" malefactor" (v. 30), but there is no accusation of blasphemy, 
and Pilate finds no fault in him at all (v. 38). In Mark and 
Matthew the high-priest rends his clothes, which the tradi- 
tional law among the Jews ordered should be done in cases 
of blasphemy (Sanhedr. VIII. 10, 11). This mass of contra- 
dictions is completed by the omission of this ceremony in 



142 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Luke and John, and Jesus in Luke (xxiii. 2) is taken before 
Pilate, not for blasphemy, but for forbidding to pay tribute to 
Csesar ! 

The punishment for blasphemy, of which crime alone a 
Jewish council could have found Jesus guilty, was stoning. 
(< He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely 
be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly 
stone him" (Lev. xxiv. 16). If Jesus had been condemned 
for blasphemy, he would have been tried in the daytime, not 
at night, and by the Sanhedrim, not by Caiaphas, and he 
would then have been stoned in accordance with the above 
law. According to the Mischna (Sanhedr. v. 7) blasphemy 
and idolatry were punished with stoning, and after the cul- 
prit was dead his body was to be " hanged on a tree " (Deut. 
xxi. 21, 22). 

The Jews, being subject to the Romans, had no longer, at 
this time, the power of pronouncing judgment in capital 
cases, and consequently could not condemn Jesus to be 
guilty of an offence punishable with death by the Roman 
law. Their powers were limited to the punishment of here- 
sies by the synagogues, which consisted of corporal punish- 
ments, usually inflicted by the hazzan, c T7Trjpsrrj9, or apparitor 
(Luke v. 29), who belonged to each synagogue. Examples 
of the punishments inflicted by them are to be found in Matt, 
v. 25, x. 17, xxiii. 34; Mark xiii. 9; Luke xii. 11, xxi. 12; 
Acts xxii. 19, xxvi. 11, and 2 Cor. xi. 24, in none of which 
cases is there any mention of capital punishment, though 
death, of course, sometimes resulted from stoning. When it 
was intended that death should be the penalty, the sentence 
was carried out by the principal witnesses throwing large 
stones at the criminal's head (Deut. xvii. 7), and it was only 
after he had thus been slain that the people were allowed to 
throw stones at him. This is the origin of the expression 
" Let him that is without sin among you, let him first cast a 
stone at her," which is an adaptation of a proverbial expres- 
sion among the Jews. 

The form of criminal punishment is set forth in the 
Mischna : ei When it is a question of life and death, the accused 
may be acquitted on the first day. But if he is found guilty, 
it is ahsolutdy necessary that the trial should he deferred till 
the next day " (Sanhedr., 32). It is also perfectly certain that 
no trial could take place, either on the eve of the Sabbath, 



CONTRADICTIONS IX THE NARRATIVE. 143 

or on the eve of a feast day, and that it could not take place 
at night. 

In John xi. 47 et sqq. it is said that the chief priests and 
Pharisees gathered a council together, and said, " What do 
we ? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him alone, 
all men will believe on him, and the Eomans shall come and 
take away both our place and nation." Caiaphas answers 
that it was expedient " that one man should die for the 
people, and that the whole nation perish not." This, we are 
told, he spake not of himself, but, being high-priest that year 
(the fact that he was high-priest for eleven years in succes- 
sion being apparently unknown to the writer), he "prophe- 
sied." Prophesying, however, was no part of the duty of a 
Jewish high-priest at any time, the "prophets" having 
always formed a distinct body, and, if he prophesied, he pro- 
phesied wrongly, for, notwithstanding the crucifixion of 
Jesus, the Romans did come and take away both the place 
and the nation. 

Even if this were the true version, however, Jesus would 
not have been guilty of any blasphemy, for all that could 
be brought against him was that he performed miracles. It 
was a general belief at the time the gospels were written 
that miracles could be performed by any one. St. Justin 
(Dial, cum Tryph., 7) says that false prophets and false 
apostles perform miracles just as easily as the true ones, and 
that there is no difference between them except that the 
first teach error and the worship of the gods, and that the 
others teach the worship of God and of Christ ! 

The real trial of Jesus took place before Pilate, according 
to the Gospels, for he alone had the power of life and death 
(John xviii. 31). In the next verse we are told that this 
was done "that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, 
signifying what death he should die ;" a saying which, how- 
ever, is not recorded in this gospel. Matthew alone has 
this saying, the other gospels merely saying that he pre- 
dicted his death ; and the words in Mark x. 34, which in the 
Codex Sinaiticus are, " And they shall mock him, and shall 
spit upon him, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him," 
and which are almost identical in Luke (xviii. 32, 33), 
appear in Matthew (xx. 19) with the important alteration 
of "kill" into "crucify." 

Jesus is represented as being taken before Pilate on a 



144 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

charge that lie said he was the King of the Jews, for no Roman 
governor would have interfered in any religious questions, 
universal toleration being the rule. Mark xv. 2, in which 
Jesus admits to Pilate that he is the King of the Jews, is 
an interpolation, which contradicts v. 5, in which it is said 
that Jesus answered nothing, and v. 14, in which Pilate asks, 
" What evil hath he done P " 

We are next informed, on the authority of the evangelists 
only, of a custom which existed of releasing a prisoner to 
the Jews, whomsoever they desired, at the feast of the 
Passover. This custom existed among the Romans and 
Athenians on the occasion of certain great festivals ; but 
Pilate would never have done so on the occasion of a Jewish 
festival, nor would he have risked the censure of the autho- 
rities at Rome for releasing a seditious person in order to 
content the Jews, whom he oppressed and hated. In 
John xi. 50 (conf. c. xviii. 14) the whole complexion of this 
transaction is changed, for it is there said that Caiaphas 
represented to the chief priests and Pharisees that " it was 
expedient that one man should die for the people, and that 
the whole nation perish not." What is meant by this ex- 
traordinary statement it is impossible to conceive ; but we 
are told a few verses farther on that the intended victim did 
his best to avoid his fate by retiring to Ephraim. 

In the synoptical gospels (Mark xiv. 14-17, Matt. xxvi. 
18-20, Luke xxii. 11-15) Jesus ate the Passover on the first 
day of the feast of unleavened bread — that is, on the day 
when they killed the passover (Mark xiv. 12, Luke xxii. 7), 
and was crucified the next day (Mark xv. 1, Matt, xxvii, 1, 
Luke xxii. 66). This has been shown to be impossible, for 
if he were condemned to death he was entitled to two da} r s' 
trial [see ante]. According to the fourth gospel, the last 
meal of Jesus took place "before the feast of the passover " 
(John xiii. 1, conf. v. 29) ; and the following day, which was 
the day of the crucifixion, was " the preparation of the 
passover" (xix. 14, 31), which prevented the Jews from en- 
tering the prsetorium lest they should be defiled (xviii. 28). 
This gospel is therefore in contradiction not only with the 
synoptical gospels, but with the epistles, in which the last 
supper is said to have taken place on the same night in 
which Jesus was betrayed (1 Cor. xi. 23), and in which the 
cup is called " the cup of blessing," which was the name 



FORGED ORDER FOR THE EXECUTION OF CHRIST. 145 

given to the third cup at the passover feast by the Jews. The 
epistle asserts that this communication respecting the Last 
Supper was " from the Lord " (xi. 22), and we are thus pre- 
vented from accepting the Johannine statement. The 
Churches of Asia Minor, as we have seen, observed the 
14th Msan, and said that they followed the example of 
Christ, who had eaten the passover before his death. Justin 
Martyr (Dial, cum Tryph., c. Ill) says that "Jesus was 
arrested, as it is written, on the day of the Passover, and 
was also crucified during the Passover." In the Archi- 
episcopal Palace at Bourges, now burnt, was long preserved 
what pretended to be the order for the execution of Jesus 
Christ, which is interesting as showing the belief of the 
Church on this subject. It is as follows : — 

"Jesus of Nazareth, of the Jewish tribe of Juda, con- 
victed of imposture and rebellion against the divine autho- 
rity of Tiberius Augustus, Emperor of the Romans, having 
for this sacrilege been condemned to die on the cross by 
sentence of the judge, Pontius Pilate, on the prosecution of 
our lord Herod, lieutenant of the Emperor in Judsea, shall 
be taken to-morrow morning, the 23rd day of the Ides of 
March, to the usual place of punishment, under the escort 
of a company of the Prsetorian Guard. The so-called King 
of the Jews shall be taken out by the Strumean Gate. All 
the public officers and the subjects of the Emperor are 
directed to lend their aid to the execution of this sentence. 

" (Signed) Capel. 

" Jerusalem, 23rd day of the Ides of March, year of Eome 783." 

Whoever forged this extraordinary document (which was 
the personal property of the family De la Tour d'Auvergne, 
and is about as authentic as the correspondence of Ignatius 
with the Virgin Mary) has completely exonerated the Jews 
from all participation in the death of Jesus, and has estab- 
lished as far as in him lay that it was a strictly political 
offence for which he suffered. In fact, if Jesus was really 
executed by Pilate, this must have been the case. Nothing 
can be more distinct than the refusal of Gallio, the Roman 
deputy of Achaia (Acts xviii. 12-17), to have anything to do 
with the insurrection of the Jews against Paul. He says to 
them, " If it were a matter of wrong, or wicked lewdness, 
O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you : but 

L 



146 GOSPEL HISTOEY. 

if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, 
look ye to it, for I will he no judge of such matters." 

This document gives us to understand that the crucifixion 
took place in a.d. 30. Eusebius states (H. E., i. 10) that the 
ministry of Jesus lasted nearly four years, thus making it 
commence a.d. 26, which he calls the fourth year of Pilate's 
procuratorship, Pilate having been appointed in a.d. 25. 
Not content with this, he says that Jesus began his ministry 
when Annas was high- priest, and continued it under his 
successors until the time of Caiaphas. This, however, is the 
year in which Caiaphas was appointed ; and to have begun 
his ministry under Annas, Jesus must have commenced in 
a.d. 22, and it must have lasted eight years, there being 
four priests in the four years preceding the appointment of 
Caiaphas. Valerius Gratus, who deposed Annas, was ap- 
pointed by Tiberius immediately after the death of Augustus 
in a.d. 14. 

The circumstances which followed the trial and condem- 
nation of Jesus, the purple robe, the crown of thorns, &c, 
would never have disgraced the judicial administration of a 
Roman magistrate. In Mark, Pilate delivers Jesus to be 
crucified after scourging him, and the Roman soldiers lead 
him to the Prsetorium — that is, to Herod's palace — which 
was at that time the residence of Pilate, and having called 
together the whole band (about 600 men), clothe him with 
purple, plat a crown of thorns, which they put on his head, 
salute him as King of the Jews (thus showing the nature of 
his supposed offence), smite him on the head with a reed, 
spit upon him, and worship him in mockery (Mark xv. 
15-20). In Matthew, they also take him into the Prsetorium, 
and after gathering the whole band together, put upon him 
a scarlet robe instead of a purple one, plat a crown of 
thorns, which they put on his hcaid, put a reed in his right 
hand instead of smiting him with it, salute him as King of 
the Jews, and spit upon and smite him with the reed 
afterwards (Matt, xxvii. 29, 30). In Luke, Pilate finding 
that the man was a Galileean, and belonged to Herod's 
jurisdiction, sends him to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of 
Galilee, who was at Jerusalem at that time. Herod, we are 
told, was exceeding glad to see him, for he hoped to have 
seen a miracle done by him ; but Jesus did not answer his 
questions, and the chief priests and scribes stood and vehe- 



THE MOCKING OF JESUS. 147 

inently accused him. According to this gospel, therefore, 
it was Herod with his men of war who " set him at nought, 
and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and 
sent him again to Pilate" (Luke xxiii. 11), to whose juris- 
diction we had just before been told he did not belong. In 
the fourth gospel we have yet another version. Pilate takes 
Jesus (xix. 1-7) and scourges him ; the soldiers plat a crown 
of thorns and put it on his head, and put on him a purple 
robe, as in Mark ; but while both Mark (xv. 20) and 
Matthew (xxvii. 30) state that Jesus was led forth to execu- 
tion in his own clothes, this gospel states that he came forth 
" wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe." It is 
then stated that the chief priests and officers cried out as 
soon as they saw him, "Crucify, crucify him!" and that 
ultimately Pilate gave Jesus up to the chief priests (v. 16) 
to carry out an exclusively Roinan punishment for an offence 
against Caesar ! 

Philo — who was constantly at Jerusalem during the life- 
time of Jesus, and who, though he did not die till twenty- 
five years after the date assigned to his crucifixion, never 
so much as alludes to the extraordinary events narrated in 
the gospels — mentions the mocking and reviling of Herod 
Agrippa, the King of the Jews, at Alexandria, when he was 
on his way to Palestine in a.d. 38. This was effected by the 
substitution for him of a certain wretch named Carabbas, 
and the account of this transaction {Phil, contra Flacc, c. 6) 
closely resembles the gospel narratives. He says, " There 
was a certain poor wretch named Carabbas, . . . who spent 
all his days and nights naked in the roads, . . . the sport of 
idle children and wanton youths ; and they, driving the poor 
wretch as far as the public gymnasium, and setting him up 
there on high that he might be seen by everybody, flattened 
out a leaf of papyrus and put it on his head instead of a 
diadem, and clothed the rest of his body with a common 
door mat instead of a cloak, and instead of a sceptre they 
put into his hand a small stick of the native papyrus, which 
they found lying by the wayside, and gave to him; and 
when, like actors in theatrical spectacles, he had received all 
the insignia of royal authority, and had been dressed and 
adorned like a king, the young men bearing sticks on their 
shoulders stood on each side of him instead of spear-bearers, 
in imitation of the body-guards of the king ; and then 

L 2 



148 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

others came up, some as if to salute him, and others making 
as though they wished to plead their causes before him, and 
others pretending to wish to consult with him about the 
affairs of the State." The names Carabbas and Barabbas 
are almost identical ; but while Philo's account is historical 
and intelligible, it is wholly unintelligible how the substi- 
tution of an innocent victim for a guilty one should have 
saved the people from perishing, even admitting that the 
custom of releasing a prisoner existed, and that Pilate 
would have been willing to jeopardise his position in order 
to content the Jews. 

Mark (xv. 21) says that the Roman soldiers compelled one 
Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to 
bear the cross of Christ. Matthew (xxvii. 32) says, also, 
that it was a man of Cyrene, Simon by name ; and Luke 
(xxiii. 26) adds that he was coming out of the country. 
John (xix. 17) contradicts all these statements by saying 
that Christ bore his own cross, and does not mention Simon 
at all. On this occasion Luke represents Jesus as uttering 
words to the people which cannot have been written until 
after the siege of Jerusalem. Yerse 30 is taken from 
Hosea x. 8, refers to the destruction of the high places of 
Aven, and cannot possibly refer to Jerusalem in her latter 
days. In Matthew xvi. 21, and Luke xiii. 33, it is stated 
that Jesus must suffer at Jerusalem, because " it cannot be 
that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem ; " thus putting an 
historical untruth into the mouth of Jesus himself. This is 
not the only one, however, for in Mark ii. 26 Jesus is made 
to mistake Abiathar, the son of the high-priest, for Ahime- 
lech, concerning whom the story is told (1 Sam. xxi. 1) ! 

Jesus, surrounded by the Roman soldiers, was taken 
"unto the Golgotha" (Mark xv. 22, Cod. Sin.), which was 
situated to the north or north-west of Jerusalem. Luke 
(xxiii. 33) calls it Kpavfov, " which is called a skull " (Cod. 
Sin.) This word has been translated " Calvaria " in the 
Vulgate, and probably took its name from its being the place 
of execution ; not, as has been supposed, from being a hill 
which resembled a skull. 

Mark states (xv. 22) that when they arrived at the place 
of execution they offered Jesus wine mingled with myrrh, 
which was an intoxicating beverage intended to allay pain. 
In Matthew (xxvii. 34) this has been altered into " wine 



JEWISH AND ROMAN PRACTICES AT EXECUTIONS. 149 

mingled with gall " (Cod. Sin.), and ultimately into "vinegar 
mingled with gall;" because in Psalm lxix. 21 it is said, 
" The j gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they 
gave me vinegar to drink," which the writers wished to 
represent as a fulfilment of prophecy. In John xix. 29 we 
have a spunge filled with vinegar only, and put upon hyssop, 
which appears to be derived from Exodus xii. 22.; and in 
direct contradiction to the synoptical gospels,, it is offered 
him after the execution instead of before. In Luke xxiii. 36 
vinegar only is offered in mockery by the soldiers, and, as 
in the fourth gospel, after the crucifixion. Nothing is said 
of this drink being offered to those who were crucified 
with him, which it would naturally have been, the object 
being apparently to show that Jesus was above receiving 
such aid. 

The Jewish practice was that when a person had been 
condemned to any of the four capital punishments, viz. — 
stoning, burning, beheading, or strangulation — an intoxi- 
cating drink was presented to him in order to take away the 
pain of the punishment, which used to be prepared by charit- 
able ladies (Sanhedr.4;3a), who often brought it themselves to 
the condemned persons in order to stupefy them. This 
humane practice has been represented in the gospels as a 
cruel act, in order to make out that a supposed prophecy has 
been fulfilled. It is evident, moreover, that an intoxicating 
beverage which might operate in deadening the pain of an 
ordinary execution could be of no use for the slow, lingering 
death of a punishment like crucifixion, nor is it probable 
that Roman soldiers would be allowed to adopt a Jewish 
practice. 

The criminals were then stripped, and the Roman soldiers, 
who were the executioners, and who usually kept such of the 
clothes (pannicularia) of the condemned as were of little 
value (Dig. xlvii., xx. ; De Bonis Damnat., 6, a custom which 
was limited by Adrian), cast lots for his garments. John 
(xix. 24) alters the passage by representing the soldiers as 
casting lots "for" instead of "upon" the vesture, which he 
also represents as a single garment (xltcov), because it was 
"without seam" (appafyos), and "woven from the top through- 
out " (vfyavTos St' oKov) . This was no doubt intended to make 
Jesus appear as a high- priest, for the dress of the Jewish 
high-priest was made in this fashion (Joseph. Ant. III. vii. 



150 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

4) : " The high-priest, indeed, is adorned with the same gar- 
ment that we have described, without abating one; only over 
these he puts a vesture of a bine colonr. . . . Now this ves- 
ture was not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed toge- 
ther upon the shoulders and the sides, but it was one long 
vestment so woven as to leave an aperture for the neck." 
Philo says that the dress of the high-priest, taken as a whole 
as well as in its parts, represented the whole and the 
parts of the universe; and that when he entered the 
temple he was considered to invest himself with a small 
world, the image of that great one which was animated by 
the Deity, and which was his first temple. It is against all 
probability that anyone would have been allowed to assume 
or imitate the dress of the high-priest. At nine o'clock in 
the morning, according to Matthew and Mark, but at mid- 
day, according to Luke and John, the cross was erected, and 
Jesus, having been crucified, gave up the ghost about three 
o'clock in the afternoon. As has already been pointed out, 
this could by no possibility have been a Jewish punishment. 
The Mischna (Sanhedr. v. 7) lays it down expressly that the 
crimes of blasphemy and idolatry were punished by stoning, 
and after the culprit was dead, the body was to remain ex- 
posed on a tree or gibbet for a whole day, in order that the 
people might fear (Deut. xiii. 11; xxi. 22, 23). Yet in 
Acts v. 30, Peter and the other apostles are represented as 
accusing the Jews of themselves putting Jesus to death in 
this very manner. The cross, on the contrary, was a Eoman 
punishment, reserved for slaves, and for cases where the 
aggravation of ignominy was intended to be added to that of 
death. It was a suitable punishment for murderers and rob- 
bers, but was quite inapplicable to a man of blameless life, 
in whom the Eoman Governor could see no fault. If his 
crime had been of a political nature, death by the sword 
would have been his punishment, rather than the ignomi- 
nious death of a highwa3 7 man, for crucifixion was reserved 
for criminals of the latter description. Neither of the Jew- 
ish historians, neither Justus of Tiberias nor Josephus, make 
any mention of Jesus, or of his crucifixion, though they both 
enter into every detail of what took place during Pilate's 
government. 

The cross on which criminals suffered was formed of two 
beams bound together in the shape of a T ? and was so low 



THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE CROSS. l5l 

that the feet of the criminal nearly touched the ground. He 
was fastened to it by driving nails through the hands ; the 
feet were frequently nailed, but were sometimes only bound 
with ropes. A piece of wood, a sort of horn, was attached 
to the shaft of the cross, and passed between the legs of the 
criminal, who rested upon it. Without this the hands would 
have been torn, and the body would have sunk down. At 
other times a horizontal piece of wood was fixed where the 
feet came, and supported them. 

Mark (xv. 27) says that two robbers (Xgaral) were executed 
with Jesus. These robbers are supposed to fulfil a prophecy 
of Isaiah (liii. 12) in which the words "He shall be num- 
bered with the transgressors " appear ; and Jesus is repre- 
sented (Luke xxiv. 37) as quoting this verse with reference 
to himself. Independently, however, of the fact that this 
portion of Isaiah is not written by that prophet, but by an 
unknown writer, Mark xv. 28, in which this verse is applied 
to the crucifixion, is not in the Codex Sinaiticus, neither is 
it quoted in Matthew, and it appears for the first time in 
Luke ; but it is not mentioned in the fourth gospel, where 
it is merely said that "two others" were crucified with Jesus. 
Mark says nothing about their conduct on the cross, but 
Matthew (xxvii. 44) says that, besides the mockery of the 
passers by, both the thieves also mocked Jesus on the cross. 
In Luke (xxiii. 39-43) this is completely altered, for while 
one of the thieves rails on Jesus, the other rebukes him, and 
afterwards asks Jesus to remember him, upon which Jesus 
promises him that he shall be with him that day in Paradise, 
which, if he was to be three days in the bowels of the earth, 
he could not do. 

It was customary to place over the cross an inscription 
stating the crime for which the criminal suffered. Mark 
says that on this occasion " the superscription of the ac- 
cusation" which was written over was f O fta<ri\sv$ rcov 
'lovSaicov, " The King of the Jews," and we find elsewhere 
that this superscription is said to have been written by 
Pilate himself, who, however, had not found Jesus guilty on 
that account, but is represented (Mark xv. 35) as giving him 
up in order " to content the people." How is it possible 
then to suppose that he should have written an accusation 
of a crime of which he had not found the accused guilty? 
In Matthew it is the soldiers who set up over his head an 



152 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

accusation quite differently worded — Ovtos scttlv 'Itjctovs 6 
fiao-tXevs twv 'lovSaicov, " This is Jesus the King of the Jews" 
(Matt, xxvii. 37) — and no mention is made of Pilate's having 
written it. In Luke (xxiii. 38) we have a third superscrip- 
tion, differing from the two preceding ones : Ovtos scttlv 6 
ftaatkevs tmv 'lovSatwv, " This is the King of the Jews," and 
this time it is in Greek, in Latin, and in Hebrew letters, 
though in the Vatican Codex the words " in letters of Greek, 
and Latin, and Hebrew " are omitted ; and in it and in the 
Codex Sinaiticus the inscription runs, "The King of the 
Jews is this." In John xix. 19, however, both the Codices 
have, "And the writing was in Hebrew and Latin and 
Greek, jestts the nazarite, the king of the jews " thus 
altering the text of all the inscriptions, for none of which is 
there any authority, and the whole exhibits traces of a made- 
up narrative. 

Mark xv. 29, " And they that passed by," &c, is taken 
from Ps. xxii. 7, which is in the LXX., ttclvtss ol OscopovvTss fie 
i^SfjLVKTrjpiadv /jus, sXdXrjcrav sv ^slXsatv, EKivrjaav fcscfiaXrjv. In 
v. 31 the high-priests (ol dp^ispsh) are represented as mock- 
ing. This is a gross blunder, for there was but one high- 
priest among the Jews ; and it is evident that the author 
knew the difference between priests and high-priests from 
c. ii. 26, where ispsvai is correctly used for priests. Matthew 
(xxvii. 41) has fallen into the same error, which Luke has 
avoided by calling them "the rulers" (xxiii. 33), and John 
has omitted the incident altogether. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon Jesus, according to Mark 
and Matthew, "cried with a loud voice," saying, " Eloi, 
Eloi, lama sabacthani," according to Mark ; but " Eli, Eli, 
lama sabacthani," according to Matthew. Neither Luke nor 
John mention those words, which is very remarkable. There 
can be little doubt that they were intentionally omitted by 
Luke, for he mentions (xxiii. 46) that " Jesus cried out with 
a loud voice," and he inserts the words, " Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit," from Ps. xxxi. 5. 

The disciples had all fled. There were only present Mary 
of Magdala (near Tiberias), Mary the mother of James the 
Less and of Joses, and Salome, with many other women who 
had followed and ministered to Jesus when he was in Gali- 
lee, according to Mark. In Matthew (xxvii. 56, Cod. Sin.) 
they are enumerated as follows : " Among whom was Mary 



CONTRADICTIONS IN THE NARRATIVE. 153 

the mother of James, and the Mary of Joseph, and the Mary 
of the sons of Zebedee : Joses." In Luke (viii. 2) we have 
an addition to these women in the shape of Joanna, the wife 
of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, who, with many 
others, " ministered unto him of their substance." Mark 
(xv. 40) speaks of a person called Joses, of whom we know 
nothing ; but the original reading of Mark vi. 3 is Joseph, 
not Joses, and Jesus is said [Cod. Sin.] to be the son of 
Mary, and " the brother of James and Joseph, and of Juda 
and Simon ;" and the corrected reading of Mark xv. 40, in 
the Codex Sinaiticus, gives Joseph instead of Joses, thus 
agreeing with Mark vi. 3, and showing that Joses is a 
clerical error. Matt. x. 3 contradicts this by saying that 
James was the son of Zebedee, substitutes John for Joseph, 
and makes Simon to be the brother of Andrew. In John 
xix. 25, three women, and three only, are represented, not 
as "looking on afar off" (Mark xv. 40), but as standing by 
the cross, thus contradicting Luke xxiii. 49, which says that 
all his acquaintance (Trdvres ol yvcocrTol aurov) were present, 
as well as all the women that followed him from Galilee. 
These women are Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary her 
sister, the wife of Cleopbas, and Mary of Magdala ; and 
w T hereas Matthew and Mark give us to understand that none 
but women were present, this gospel says that "the disciple 
whom Jesus loved" was also there. It is perfectly hopeless 
to attempt to reconcile these contradictions. 

In Mark viii. 31, Jesus tells his disciples that he must rise 
again " after three days," which agrees with Matt, xxvii. 
63, " Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was 
yet alive, After three days I will rise again." In Matt. xii. 
39, 40 ; xvi. 1-4, however, he says that he must be " three 
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." There is 
not the slightest intimation in the Old Testament that the 
Messiah was to be raised the third day, and therefore this is 
a mere arbitrary assumption. In Matthew Jesus addresses 
these words to the Scribes and Pharisees ; in Luke he ad- 
dresses them to the people on a totally different occasion 
(Luke xi. 16, 29-32), but says nothing about his being three 
days in the earth. 

It is evident that the story about Jonah is an insertion, 
for Matt. xii. 43 is naturally connected with v. 37 or v. 30. 
Compare Luke xi., in which vv. 24, 25, which are the paral- 



154 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

lei passage to Matt. xiii. 43-45, join Luke xi. 23, which cor- 
responds to Matt. xii. 30. This interpretation of the sign of 
Jonas is not found elsewhere, and contradicts Matt. xvi. 4 
(conf. Mark viii. 12 and Luke xi. 30) as it does Matt. xii. 
41, 42. The Book of Jonah was written some three hun- 
dred years later than the time of that prophet, who lived in 
the time of Jeroboam IL, B.C. 804-764. The whole of Jonah's 
prayer in c. ii. 2-9 is to be found in the Psalms. Yerse 2 is 
from Ps. cxx. 1 ; v. 3 from Ps. xlii. 7, &c. Tzetes in his 
commentary on the lines written by Lycophron respecting 
Hercules, says that he passed three nights in the belly of a 
whale ; and it was said that the bones of this whale were 
discovered at Joppa, the very place where Jonah is said to 
have been swallowed up. St. Cyril, in his commentary on 
Jonah xi., mentions this tradition. He says Hercules came 
out of the whale with the loss of all his hair, and refers to 
the passage in Lycophron. Theophylact, in his commentary 
on this same chapter of Jonah, marvels that the Greeks will 
not believe in the miracle of Jonah when they believe in a 
similar occurrence which befel Hercules. 

The prophecy of Jesus that he should be three days and 
three nights in the heart of the earth was not accomplished 
according to the Gospels. He was alive on the cross at the 
ninth hour of the Jewish Saturday, or three o'clock in the 
afternoon of our Friday (Mark xv. 34, Matt, xxvii. 40), and 
died shortly afterwards (Mark xv. 37, Matt, xxvii. 50, Luke 
xxiii. 46). Joseph of Arimathsea went to Pilate to ask 
permission to cut down the body and prepare it for burial, 
"when even" was come, i.e., about six o'clock (Mark xv. 42, 
Matt, xxvii. 57, Luke xxiii. 54, John xix. 31, 42). Some 
time elapsed before he obtained permission, for Pilate had 
to send a centurion to see whether Jesus was really dead. 
When permission was at last obtained, some time was 
required to prepare the body for burial (John xix. 40), so 
that it could not have been buried earlier than ten o'clock 
that night, but this would have been against the law, for 
it was unlawful to allow the bodies of malefactors to remain 
all night upon the tree, or to bury them on the Sabbath. 
Being, however, entombed after the commencement of the 
Sabbath, Jesus was found to have risen, according to Mark, 
very early in the morning of the next day ; according to 
Matthew, in the end of the same Sabbath, when it drew 



THE CRUCIFRAGIUM UNHISTORICAL. 155 

towards the next day; according to Luke, on the first day 
of the week, very early ; and, according to John, on the 
first day of the week, while it was yet dark. Mark says 
that certain women went to the sepulchre " very early in 
the morning of the first day of the week" (xvi. 2) ; and 
Matthew says (xxviii. 1) that they came " in the end of the 
Sabbath," and found that he had risen. According to 
Matthew, therefore, he rose on the very same day he was 
buried, and, according to Mark, he rose a few hours 
later. Thus, according to the one, he was not in the tomb 
twenty-four hours ; according to the other, about thirty 
hours ; and in either case he is represented as having falsi- 
fied his own prediction. 

Jesus is represented as hanging three hours on the cross, 
and he was to rise again in three days. The shortness of 
the time, however, gave rise to many doubts as to the reality 
of his death. A few hours of hanging on the cross ap- 
peared to persons who were in the habit of witnessing 
crucifixions, quite inadequate to produce such a result. 
Many cases were cited of crucified persons who, after being 
taken down sufliciently soon, had been recalled to life by 
energetic remedies. Josephus (Vita, 75) says, " Having been 
sent by Titus Csesar with Cerealis and a thousand horsemen 
to a certain village called Thecoa, to examine whether the 
place was capable of being fortified, I saw, as I came back, 
several prisoners crucified ; and having recognised three with 
whom I had been acquainted, I was distressed at it, and I 
told Titus of it, weeping. He immediately ordered them to 
be taken down, and that all possible care should be taken of 
them. Two died, notwithstanding the treatment, but the 
third survived." (See also Herod, vii. 194.) Victorinus, 
who was crucified under Nerva with his head downwards, 
lived three days. The martyrs Timotheus and Maura lived 
nine days. Persons of strong constitution were able to sleep 
on the cross, and only died of hunger. Origen (In Matt. 
Comment.) was obliged to call in the aid of a miracle to 
account for it. 

In John xix. 31, it is said that the Jews asked Pilate that 
the legs of the criminals might be broken, in order that they 
might take them away before the Sabbath day. This cir- 
cumstance is not mentioned in any of the other gospels, and 
is an error, for the crucifragium had nothing to do with 



156 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

crucifixion among the Eomans. It -was a separate punish- 
ment for slaves, prisoners of war, &c. It has been inserted 
here to represent the resemblance of Christ to the Passover 
Lamb (Exod. xii. 46 ; Numb. ix. 12). The same is the case 
with the piercing of his side, in this gospel, by a soldier 
(who is called Longinus in the Gospel of Mcodemus, c. vii. 
8), which has been inserted to correspond with Zech. xii. 10, 
a book which from the prominence it gives to horses, upon 
which the angels are represented as riding, is evidently of 
post-Captivity origin. In John xix. 37, there is a quotation 
from Zech. xii. 10 : " They shall look upon him whom they 
pierced." This is according to the Hebrew version, for the 
LXX. 'E7ri/3\e^ovra4 irpos /uls, av6' a>v Ka7(oxpr}aavTo, would 
not have suited the writer's purpose. The same is the case 
with the quotation from Isaiah in Matt. viii. 17, which is 
in the LXX. Ovto? ras dfiaprlas rjfxcov (frspst, /ecu irspl rjfA&v 
ohvvarai. Here also the Greek version would not have suited 
the writer's purpose, which was to represent Isaiah as pro- 
phesying that Jesus would heal physical infirmities* 



THE DARKNESS \T THE CRUCIFIXION. 157 



CHAPTEE YI. 

The synoptical gospels say that Jesus died soon after three 
o'clock in the afternoon, but that from twelve to three there 
was darkness over the whole land according to Matthew 
and Mark, and "over all the earth" according to Luke 
(xxiii. 44-5), "the sun being eclipsed" [Cod. Sin.] Dark- 
ness of this description is of frequent occurrence in Pagan as 
well as Jewish writers. The sun was eclipsed at the assump- 
tion of Romulus ; and when Csesar died, Servius (Ad Yirg. 
Georg. I., 165 sqq.) says, " Constat, occiso Cfesare in senatu 
pridie Idus Martias, solis fuisse defectum ab luna sexta usque 
ad noctem." The darkness therefore commenced on this 
occasion at the same hour (mid-day) as it is said to have 
done in the gospels. The darkening of the sun is repre- 
sented in several passages of the Old Testament as the 
mourning of the Deity for the sins of mankind. In R. 
Bechai Cod. Hakkema the death of an illustrious Rabbi is 
said to resemble the setting of the sun at mid-day, and in 
Succa f. 29, 1, it is said that when persons of high rank in 
the priesthood die the sun becomes darkened if the last 
honours are not paid to them. In Megillath Taanith, p. 50, 
col. 1, it is said that there was darkness over the world for 
three days when the Septuagint version of the Scriptures 
was published. This is interpreted by R. Gedalia to signify 
a three days' fast, such as is recorded in Esther iv. 16. 

In the Anaphora or Relation of Pilate to Tiberius, which 
relates the miracles of Christ as recorded in the Gospels, 
with one or two additional ones, it is said respecting the 
darkness on this occasion, "There was darkness over the 
whole earth, the sun in the middle of the day being darkened, 
and the stars appearing, among whose lights the moon ap- 
peared not, but, as if turned to blood, it left its shining." 
This exactly agrees with what Peter is represented as quoting 
from Joel (Acts ii. 20) : " The sun shall be turned into dark- 



158 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

ness, and the moon into blood, before that great [and notable] 
day of the Lord come." The words " and notable," and the 
next verse, " And it shall come to pass that whoever shall 
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," are not in 
the Codex Sinaiticus. This portion of Joel is an insertion, 
in which a return from captivity is promised to Judah and 
Jerusalem (Joel iii. 1), and has no prophetic meaning what- 
ever. Arnobius, who is quoted by Lardner as evidence of 
the " uncommon darkness and other surprising events at the 
time of our Lord's passion and death" (vol. II., p. 255), says 
that " When he had put off his body, which he carried about 
in a little part of himself, after he suffered himself to be 
seen, and that it should be known of what size he was, all 
the elements of the world, terrified at the strangeness of what 
had happened, were put out of order ; the earth shook and 
trembled ; the sea was completely poured out from its lowest 
bottom ; the whole atmosphere was rolled up into balls of 
darkness (globis tenebrarum) ; the fiery orb of the sun itself 
caught cold and shivered." 

Gibbon asks, very reasonably, " How shall we excuse the 
supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world to 
these evidences which were presented by the hand of Omni- 
potence, not to their reason, but to their senses? This 
miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, 
the curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without 
notice in an age of science and history. It happened during 
the lifetime of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have 
experienced the immediate effects or received the earliest 
intelligence of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in 
a laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena of 
nature — earthquakes, meteors, comets, and eclipses, which 
his indefatigable curiosity could collect ; both the one and the 
other have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to 
which the mortal eye has been witness since the creation of 
the globe." 

Eusebius (Chron. ad Olymp. 202, 203) has endeavoured to 
make out the darkness at the Crucifixion to have been real 
by quoting Phlegon of Tralles, who speaks of an eclipse of 
the sun as having occurred in the fourth year of the 202nd 
Olympiad (a.d. 30), and who says that at the sixth hour of 
the day the stars were distinctly visible. Unfortunately 
Kepler has shown that this eclipse really took place on the 



INACCURATE STATEMENTS OF EUSEBIUS. 159 

24th of November, at two o'clock in the afternoon, thus 
being rather more than six months too late, besides which, 
the Crucifixion having taken place at the season of full moon, 
no eclipse of the sun was possible at that time, and this is no 
doubt why the original reading of Luke xxiii. 45, " The sun 
being eclipsed" [Cod. Sin. and Vat.], has been altered into 
"And the sun was darkened." 

In Mark xv. 38, the rending of the veil of the temple is 
placed after the death of Jesus, and the verse in which it is 
mentioned breaks the connection between v. 37 and v. 39, 
showing that it is an insertion. In the Gospel of Nicodemus 
this event is placed before the death of Jesus, and is connected 
with the eclipse of the sun, and c. viii. 4, 5 read exactly as 
Mark xv. 37-39 would if this verse were omitted. Jerome 
says that in the Gospel to the Hebrews it was not stated that 
the veil of the temple was rent, but that an immense beam 
broke in two. 

Eusebius, who is determined to have a miracle on this 
occasion, has quoted Joseph us, who says that on the day of 
Pentecost the priests perceived a motion and noise, and 
afterwards heard a voice in the inmost parts of the temple, 
uttering the words, " Let us depart hence." He says that 
this occurrence took place about the time of the Crucifixion, 
though he must have been well aware that the date given by 
Josephus is a.d. 66, or thirty-six years after the date he him- 
self assigns to that event ! 

Matt, xxvii. 5P-53 are unhistorical traditions, which are 
not found in the other Gospels. Like the rending of the 
veil of the temple, they are represented in the Gospel of 
Nicodemus (viii. 2) as taking place before the death of Jesus. 
The word syspais in v. 53 is found nowhere else in the New 
Testament, and sfi^avl^saOai, spoken of a supernatural oc- 
currence, is also peculiar to this passage. "And the graves 
were opened " is not in the Codex Sinaiticus. This passage 
appears to be a substitution for that in the Gospel of Nico- 
demus (xii. 14) where Joseph says to Annas and Caiaphas 
respecting Jesus, " It is, indeed, a thing really surprising 
that he should not only himself arise from the dead, but also 
raise others from their graves, who have been seen by many 
in Jerusalem," and these persons are represented to be 
Charinus and Lenthius, the sons of Simeon the high-priest, 
who were spending their time in devotional exercises in the 



160 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

city of Arimathsea. This passage was probably inserted into 
Matthew because without it there is no allusion in the Gospels 
to the existence of Christ between his crucifixion and ascen- 
sion, nor is this subject touched upon in any part of the New 
Testament except in the first epistle of Peter, which few 
persons now believe to be genuine, and all that is said in it 
is that Christ preached to the antediluvians at that time. 
It is now, however, part of what is termed the Apostles' 
Creed that Jesus descended into hell. Mr. Justice Bayly 
says of this Creed in his Common Prayer Book, " It is not 
to be understood that this creed was framed by the Apostles, 
or indeed that it existed in their time." He then gives this 
Creed as it existed in a.d. 600, which is as follows : — 

" I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ 
his only begotten son our Lord, who was born of the Holy 
Ghost and Virgin Mary, and was crucified under Pontius 
Pilate, and was buried : and the third day rose again from 
the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth on the right hand of 
the Father, whence he shall come to judge the quick and the 
dead ; and in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Church, the remission 
of sins, and the resurrection of the flesh. Amen." 

The origin of this Creed's being attributed to the Apostles 
appears to be an assertion by Ambrose (Serm. 38) that " the 
twelve Apostles, as skilful artificers, assembled together, 
and made a key by their common advice, that is, the Creed, 
by which the darkness of the devil is disclosed, that the 
light of Christ may appear." Du Pin, Archbishop Ussher, 
and many others have admitted that this Creed is not au- 
thentic. The words " he descended into hell " have been 
inserted since a.d. 600. Bishop Parsons says that these 
words were not to be found in the ancient creeds or rules of 
faith. They are not in the Mcene Creed, or in others which, 
like it, were made by the Councils as fuller explanations of 
the Apostles' Creed, nor in the rules of faith delivered by 
Irenseus, Origen, Tertullian, or Eusebius. They are not in 
the Creed expounded by St. Augustine, nor in those of St. 
Basil, Epiphanius, or Gelasius. Eufiinus (Exposit. in Symbol. 
Apost. § 20) says that in his time it was neither in the 
Roman nor in the Oriental Creeds. 

In the Gospel of ISTicodemus (xiii. 3) the coming of Jesus 
into hell is thus described by Charinus and Lenthius : 
" When we were placed with our fathers in the depth of 



THE JEWISH SCHEOL 161 

hell, in the blackness of darkness, on a sudden there ap- 
peared the colour of the sun like gold, and a substantial 
purple-coloured light enlightening the place." This is quite 
the Jewish idea. Scheol Vl/itf, the Jewish hell, signifies a 
cavern, and also demand, prayer (petitio, rogatio, preces), 
and is derived from the radical Chaldsean, signifying "he 
has asked, he has interrogated." It is synonymous with the 
Hebrew " he has proposed, asked, enquired." The hiero- 
glyph of this word is the warrior who receives the crown, 
and departs victorious to conquer again. Scheol therefore 
means the place of desire, and resembles the Greek "AS770. 
This place is also called Abadon or Abeda (abyss, Ps. lxxxviii. 
12, Prov. xxviii. 17), Doruna, the kingdom of silence (Ps. 
lxxiv. 7), and Erez [Neschia, the country of oblivion (Ps. 
lxxxviii. 12), the same as the Greek Lethe. To get there it 
was necessary, as in the Egyptian, Persian, and Greek my- 
thology, to traverse infernal rivers (lSTachle B'liaal) (Ps. 
xviii. 5), and to pass through a gate of hell (Isa. xviii. 10). 
There were also the depths of Scheol (Prov. ix. 18), the 
lowest Scheol (Deut. xxxii. 22), and the lowest country 
(Ezek. xxxi. 16). There were also chambers of the dead 
(Prov, vii. 27). The empire of the dead was looked upon as 
a dark place at a great depth below the earth, and at the 
antipodes of heaven (Job xi. 8, v. 21, 22). This is similar to 
the idea of the Pagans^ who called the concave which sur- 
rounds the South Pole the pit, while the other concave was 
called the mountain. Hence Helion and Acheron, Heli-on 
being the sun at his highest, while Achar-on is On or the 
sun in Achar, his last stage or condition. This is the 
bottomless pit. 

The primitive belief respecting the resurrection is that 
set forth in 1 Cor. xv. 3-11, that the crucified Jesus had re- 
turned from Hades, not however invested with his former 
body of flesh and blood, which remained in the grave, but 
with a new and heavenly body. The Scheol he returned 
from was the kingdom of the dead, not the kingdom of 
souls, like hell, Tartarus, &c. Scheol may be considered in 
fact as an ideal representation of the tomb. Even after the 
return from captivity, when the Jews had very generally 
adopted the ideas of their neighbours, belief in the immor- 
tality of the soul was neither clear nor well reasoned, for 
they refused all participation in a future life to those who 

M 



1G2 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

denied the resurrection and the Last Judgment, which was 
equivalent to total annihilation for unbelievers. Eternal life 
was looked upon as a recompense for good principles, and 
for having faith in them, not as the universal destiny of 
mankind. The Sadducees were the faithful preservers of 
the ancient faith and the pure tradition of the sons of Israel. 

In Isa. xxvi. 19 it is said, " Thy dead men shall live, toge- 
ther with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, 
ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, 
and the earth shall cast out the dead." This verse, which 
occurs in a triumphal song written to celebrate the fall of 
Babylon, and which is merely allegorical, has been inter- 
preted by the Jews, in the book Zohar, to signify that at 
the last day a kind of plastic dew shall fall upon the dead, 
and engender with a little bone called Luz, and that out of 
this little bone all the rest of the bones and the whole man 
shall be restored. This word ttV Luz is a Chaldee word, 
which signifies an almond, an almond-tree, and the hazel, 
and is used by the Rabbis to signify a certain bone in the 
human body, which they say is incorruptible, and out of 
which the resurrection body will be formed. The Rabbinical 
Lexicon, called Baal Aruch, says that Luz is a small bone at 
the end of the eighteenth vertebra. In Bereshith Rabba, sect. 
28 (which is a voluminous commentary on the book of Genesis), 
the same thing is stated. The bone is evidently the os coc- 
cygis. Luz is the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, the personifica- 
tion of the female, called " the almond-shaped one," and is 
the wife of Kergal, the solar light, Hence the idea of 
resurrection or new birth became associated with it. 

When this transformation has taken place, the soul, armed 
with a glorified body, an ethereal Nephesch, becomes re- 
united, according to the Hebrews, to its ancestors, to the 
people of God. It is to the bosom of Abraham that the 
souls of Sarah, Jacob, Aaron, and Moses himself fly from 
the different parts of the world in which they died. The Jews 
still address the following prayer to God at the Feast of Ta- 
bernacles : — " May his soul (in answer to this) be bound up 
in the bundle of life with the souls of Abraham, of Sarah, of 
Rebecca, and of Leah, and of the other just persons of both 
sexes who are in Paradise." This virtuous soul finds its 
reward in the development of its love, its intelligence, and 
its activity, and in studying the divine laws and command- 



MAX A MICROCOSM. 1G3 

ments. The soul, which has dwelt apart from its heavenly 
Father, and in which the Ronab (the divine breath) of Je- 
hovah has slept, and remained like an useless sword, becomes 
regenerated by repentance, by the aid of fraternal souls, and 
by that of the physician of souls. This is why Scheol, or 
the place of departed souls, signifies also prayer, or aspira- 
tion to Him who said I am the sovereign Good. The celestial 
life might begin on earth, as in the cases of Enoch and 
Elijah. The lower Scheol was the abode of the Rephaim, 
erroneously translated " giants " in our version, but which 
really signifies " the weak," those who are destined to par- 
don, penitence, healing, and regeneration. In the higher 
Scheol, under the guard of Raphael, the physician of souls, 
the works of the righteous shine like divine fruits on the 
tree of eternal life, and these fruits heal nations. 

The Zohar, which contains the traditions and mysteries of 
the Hebrew faith, and which was edited, about a.d. 121, by 
R. Simon- ben- Jochai, and has been added to by his disciples, 
sets forth our origin, our future destiny, and our relations to 
God from the Jewish point of view. "Man," it says, "is 
both the summary and the highest expression of creation : 
this is why he was not created till the sixth day. As soon 
as man appeared all was finished, both the higher and the 
lower world ; for everything reappears in man, who unites all 
forms in himself. But he is not only the image of the world, 
and of the universality of beings, including the Absolute 
Being ; he is also, he is above all, the image of God consi- 
dered solely in the aggregate of his infinite attributes." 

In the first of these two aspects, that is as a microcosm, or 
representation of the world on a small scale, man is repre- 
sented as follows : " Do not believe that man consists merely 
of flesh, skin, bones, and veins. Ear from this being so, that 
which really constitutes man is his soul, and what we have 
mentioned, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and his veins, are 
but a covering, a shell, an integument ; they are not man, 
and cannot make man. When man leaves this vile earth 
he gradually loses all the vices which he is full of." 

The microcosm is alluded to by Plato in his " Timseus," and 
signified that everything had been created in the image of 
God, who was androgynous. Thus all animated nature was 
believed to be of both sexes. The celestial Adam being 
thus the result of a male and female principle, this must 

M 2 



164 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

likewise be the case with the terrestrial Adam, and must 
apply, not only to his body, but to his soul. The Zohar 
says, " Every form in which the male and female principle 
is not found, is not a superior and complete form. The 
Holy One (blessed be He !) does not dwell where these two 
principles are not perfectly united : his blessings are only 
showered down when this union exists, as we learn from 
these words : ' He blessed them, and called their name Adam 
on the day that he created them ;' for even the very name of 
man can only be given to a man and a woman, who are but 
one and the same being." The duality of the souls is thus 
explained : " Before coming into this world, every soul and 
every spirit is composed of a man and a woman, who form 
one being; when they appear on earth, these two halves 
separate, and animate different bodies. When the time for 
marriage comes, the Holy One (blessed be He !), who knows 
all souls and all spirits, joins them as before, and then they 
form, as before, one body and one soul." 

The teaching in the epistles respecting the resurrection of 
Christ is in accordance with these doctrines. The old aban- 
doned body of flesh and blood, which is subject to corruption 
and death, is as it were put off, and the spirit, rising from 
Hades, during its stay in which it had been without any 
corporeal covering, is to be clothed with a new body, which 
is prepared in heaven for them that believe ; and this 
body has nothing in common with the body of flesh 
and blood which has been put off. The 37th verse of 1 
Cor. xv. is, in the Codex Sinaiticus, " That which thou sowest 
is not that body that shall be ;" and this is evidently the 
teaching of that epistle, and also that of the Apostles (see 
v. 3), for men were able, when Jesus was yet alive, even when 
the body lay in the grave, or when, as was the case with the 
Baptist, the head was divided from the trunk, and the body 
was buried without its head (Mark vi., 28, 29), to believe, 
without troubling themselves about the corpse, that Jesus 
was John, who had risen from Hades, as the place of de- 
parted spirits is called in the New Testament (Mark vi., 
14-16). The Pharisees did not teach that the same body 
would rise again, but that the souls of the pious would go at 
the conclusion of their sojourn in Hades, sis k'rspov aw/na, 
into another or glorified body (Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 8, 14), 
Conf. Mark xii. 25, ix. 2, and Luke xx. 35, 36, ix. 31. 



THE BURIAL OF JESUS. 1G5 

On the day before the Sabbath, according to Mark (xv. 42), 
Joseph of Arimathsea went in the evening to Pilate and 
craved the body of Jesus. Having received the body from 
Pilate, he brought fine linen, and wrapped him in it, and 
laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and 
rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre. In Matthew 
(xxvii. 60) this is converted into " his own new tomb, which 
he had hewn out in the rock." In Luke (xxiii. 53) it is 
merely " a sepulchre that was hewn in stone," but it is added 
that no man had ever before been laid in it. In John all 
these statements are contradicted, for it is there said (xix. 
41) that he was buried where he was crucified — that is, in 
Golgotha — where there was a garden, and in the garden 
there was a new sepulchre, and not a word is said about 
its being hewn out of a rock, or belonging to Joseph. We 
have also here a new person, Nicodemus, who is not men- 
tioned in the other gospels, and who brings a hundred 
pound weight of myrrh and aloes, and assists Joseph to 
bury him. This is nearly identical with the Gospel of 
Nicodemus (viii. 14, 15) : " And Mcodemus came, bringing 
with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred 
pound weight ; and they took down Jesus from the cross 
with tears, and bound him with linen cloths, with spices, 
according to the custom of burying among the Jews, and 
placed him in a new tomb which Joseph had built and caused 
to be cut out of a rock, in which never any man had been 
put ; and they rolled a great stone to the door of the 
sepulchre." Mark and Luke, however, say that it was the 
women, who had seen " how his body was laid/' who returned 
and prepared spices and ointments, when the body had 
already been embalmed, " as the manner of the Jews is to 
bury." The most extraordinary thing of all is that Paul 
in Acts xiii. 29 accuses those that dwell at Jerusalem, 
and their rulers, of taking Jesus down from the tree and 
laying him in a sepulchre, and has evidently never heard of 
Joseph of Arimathsea, the disciple of Jesus (Matt, xxvii. 57), 
who laid him in his own tomb out of reverence. In 1 Cor. 
xv. 4, this subject is dismissed in even a more summary 
manner, for it is merely said that Jesus was buried and rose 
again, and no mention is made of the women, or the an^el, 
or the earthquake, or any one of the incidents enumerated 
by the evangelists. 



J 66 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

Mark (xv. 47) says that Mary of Magdala and Mary 
the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. As Joseph 
(vi. 3) is one of the brothers of Jesus, this is a most remark- 
able expression, for it surely ought to have been the mother 
of Jesus. In c. xv. 1 we have another change : "And when 
the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother 
of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices that they 
might come and anoint him." In this gospel, therefore, 
three women pay the last rites to the dead. In Matthew 
(xxvii. 61 ; xxviii. 1) there are only two women ; but the 
statement in Mark has been altered, in c. xxvii. 56, by 
making Mary the mother of James and Joseph. Salome is 
altogether omitted in Matthew. In Luke (xxiii. 55) all the 
women that came with Jesus, from Galilee follow Joseph to the 
sepulchre, and then go to prepare the spices and ointments. 
In c. xxiv. 10 we are told who these women were, viz., 
" Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of 
James, and other women which were with them." We have 
thus three women in Mark, two in Matthew, and in Luke a 
number of women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. In 
all these Mary the mother of James appears. What is our 
surprise, therefore, in the fourth gospel (John xx. 1) to find 
only one woman, and that woman Mary of Magdala ! In 
the Gospel of Mcodemus all mention of the names of the 
women is avoided, and the Jews, who call together the sol- 
diers who guarded the sepulchre of Jesus, say (c. x. 8) " We 
know not who the women were." 

The three women came to the sepulchre very early in the 
morning, at sun-rise, on the first day of the week (Mark xvi. 
2 et sqq.), and found the stone rolled away from the door of 
the sepulchre, inside which they saw " a young man, sitting 
on the right side, clothed in a long white garment." He 
tells them that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, had 
risen, and charges them to tell Peter and the apostles that 
he would precede them into Galilee, where they should see 
him. The women, however, fled from the sepulchre in tre- 
pidation, and said nothing to any man, for they were afraid 
(v. 8). 

In Matthew the two women come to the sepulchre " as it 
began to dawn toward the first day of the week," and instead 
of a young man sitting inside the sepulchre, we have an 
angel of the Lord, who descends from heaven, a great earth- 



CONTRADICTIONS IN THE NARRATIVE. 167 

quake accompanying his descent ; and instead of the women 
finding the stone rolled awa} r , the angel himself rolls it back 
from the door, and sits npon it. We also learn, for the first 
time, that there were keepers of the sepulchre (xxviii. 4), who 
became as dead men. The angel gives much the same mes- 
sage to the women as in Mark, but in this gospel they depart 
from the sepulchre " with fear and great joy," and run to 
bring the apostles word (v. 8). 

In Luke all the women who accompanied Jesus from Ga- 
lilee came " upon the first day of the week, very early in the 
morning," bringing the spices which they had prepared, and, 
as in Mark, find the stone roiled away from the sepulchre, 
upon which they enter in, and find that the body of Jesus is 
not there (xxiv. 1-3). We find now, however, no angel, but 
"two men in shining garments" [raiment, Cod. Sin.], who 
deliver a totally different address to the women, and say 
nothing about Jesus appearing to the disciples in Galilee, 
which would be inconsistent with the remainder of this 
gospel. 

In John, as has been before observed, Mary of Magdala 
comes alone to the sepulchre, on the first day of the week, 
(S early, while it was yet dark" (xx. 1), and finds the stone 
taken away from the sepulchre. There is no earthquake, no 
young man, no angel ; but Mary runs and finds, not " the 
apostles," but Simon Peter and " the other disciple whom 
Jesus loved," who outruns Peter, and is consequently the 
first witness of the empty state of the tomb. Here, therefore, 
we are supposed to have the evidence of the author of the 
fourth gospel, who was an e} T e-witness of what took place, 
and who contradicts, in the most unequivocal manner, the 
assertions of the other evangelists. It is no wonder that 
Bishop Marsh is obliged to confess that, after all his attempts 
to reconcile the contradictions of St. John's account of the 
resurrection of Christ with those of Mark and Luke, " he 
has not been able to do it in a manner satisfactory to himself, 
or to any other impartial inquirer after truth." 

The contradictions do not stop here. After the two 
apostles had returned to their own home, Mary looked into 
the sepulchre and saw two angels in white standing, one at 
the head and one at the feet, where the body had lain. Im- 
mediately afterwards she sees Jesus himself standing by her,, 
who tells her that he is about to ascend to heaven. In this 



168 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

gospel, therefore, as in the added portion of Mark's Gospel 
(xvi. 9), Jesus first appears to Marj Magdalene; but it is 
impossible to conceive why she should be selected for so dis- 
tinguished an honour. In the added portion of Mark it is 
said that the apostles did not believe her, but nothing is said* 
of this in John. 

In the Gospel of Mcodemus all this narrative is put into 
the mouth of one of the soldiers who kept the sepulchre of 
Jesus, and who stated in the assembly, which " the rulers, 
Annas and Caiaphas " had just left, that " while they were 
guarding the sepulchre of Jesus there was an earthquake ; 
and we saw an angel of God roll away the stone of the 
sepulchre and sit upon it ; and his countenance was like light- 
ning and his garment like snow ; and we became through 
fear like persons dead. And we heard an angel saying to the 
women at the sepulchre of Jesus, Do not fear ; I know that 
you seek Jesus who was crucified ; he is risen as he fore- 
told. Come and see the place where he was laid ; and go 
presently and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead ; 
and he will go before you into Galilee ; there ye shall see him 
as he told you." (x. 3-6.) 

Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Chry- 
sostom, and Orosius all agree in stating that Pilate sent 
to the Emperor Tiberius to inform him of the unjust sen- 
tence he had pronounced against an innocent and divine 
person. Tiberius (who believed in no religion whatever) is 
said upon the receipt of this letter to have thought of placing 
Christ among the gods of Rome, but the senate having dis- 
obeyed his commands, Tiberius contented himself with 
protecting the Christians. Justin says that the memory of 
this transaction was preserved in the most public and 
authentic records, which, however, have unfortunately not 
been seen bj any one but himself. Eusebius (li. E. ii. 2) 
assures us on the testimony of Tertullian, that Tiberius was 
so convinced by the account Pilate had sent him of the 
resurrection of Christ that he threatened death to any one who 
should accuse the Christians. Tertullian also says " that it 
was an ancient decree that no one should be consecrated a 
god by the emperor before it had been approved by the 
senate. Marcus Aurelius has done this in reference to a 
certain idol, Alburnus, so that this evidence has been given 
in favour of our doctrine,, that divine dignity is conferred 



THE ASCENSION. 169 

among you by the decrees of men. Unless a god pleases men, 
he is not made a god, and thus, according to this procedure, 
it is necessary that man should be propitious to the god." 

Pilate, according to this account, informed the emperor 
that " early in the morning of the first of the Sabbaths the 
resurrection of Christ was announced by a display of the 
most astonishing and surprising feats of Divine Omnipotence 
ever performed. At the third hour of the night the sun 
broke forth into such splendour as was never before seen, 
and the heavens became enlightened seven times more than 
on any other day. And the light ceased not to shine all that 
night." This is sufficiently startling, but it is nothing to 
what follows, for we are told that " an instantaneous chasm 
took place, and the earth opened and swallowed up all the 
unbelieving Jews." The Jewish temple and synagogues all 
vanished away, not a single synagogue being left in all Jeru- 
salem, and the Roman soldiers who had kept the sepulchre 
went mad ! Such is the veracious statement of Pontius 
Pilate as certified by Tertullian and Eusebius. 

The Gospel of Matthew mentions the appearance of Jesus 
to the whole of the apostles after the crucifixion, and says 
that it took place in Galilee, on a mountain where Jesus had 
appointed them to meet him. This, however, is not men- 
tioned in c. xxvi. 32, which merely states that after he was 
risen he would go before them into Galilee. In Luke the 
apostles never leave Judaea, and Jesus appears first to them 
at Eminaus. John (xx. 19) contradicts both gospels by 
saying that the appearance took place at Jerusalem. 

The ascension is not mentioned in any of the original 
gospels. Luke xxiv. 50, 51 is in the original: "And he led 
them out unto Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and 
blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, 
he was parted from them," " and carried up to heaven," not 
being in the Codex Sinaiticus. There is therefore no 
authority in the gospels for the ascension having taken 
place, nor for Jesus " sitting at the right hand of God." In 
Acts i. 12 it is said that it took place on "the mount called 
Olivet." In the Gospel of Mcodemus (x. 18-21) we have 
this statement confirmed by three witnesses, for " a certain 
priest Phinees, Ada a schoolmaster, and a Levite named 
Ageus, they three came from Galilee to Jerusalem, and told 
the chief priests and all who were in the synagogues, saying, 



170 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

We liave seen Jesus whom ye crucified talking with his 
eleven disciples, and sitting in the midst of them in Mount 
Olivet, and saying to them, Go forth into the whole world, 
preach the gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and whoso- 
ever shall believe, and be baptized, shall be saved. And 
when he had said these things to his disciples, we saw him 
ascending into heaven." This resembles the conclusion of 
Matthew's Gospel, except that Jesus is represented there as 
being on a mountain in Galilee, and that there is no account 
of the ascension. In the Acts Jesus tells the apostles that 
they shall only receive power after the Holy Ghost had come 
upon them (i. 8), and says nothing about their preaching 
the gospel or baptizing. A circumstantial account of the 
ascension is then given, to the effect that Jesus was taken 
up, that a cloud received him out of their sight, and that 
two men in white apparel stood by them as he went up. 
In the third gospel, and also in the added portion of Mark, 
the ascension is represented as taking place on the same day 
that Jesus left the tomb : in the Acts, on the contrary, it is 
expressly stated (i. 3) that he was forty days on earth 
between his resurrection and ascension. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 5, 
6) renders all these accounts impossible by distinctly stating 
that, after he had been seen of Cephas, then of the twelve (not 
the eleven), he was seen of above five hundred brethren at 
once, afterwards of James, then of all the apostles, and lastly 
by himself; and does not mention a visible ascension at all. 
A distinction is made in this account, which we are told 
Paul had " received," between the Twelve and James and 
the apostles. Cephas, as will be shown subsequently, was 
not Peter, but one of the seventy disciples. 

The account of the ascension is imitated from the tradi- 
tional account of the disappearance of Moses, which is given 
by Josephus (Ant. IY. viii. 48) : " Now as soon as they (i. e., 
the Senate, Eleazar the high priest, and Joshua) were come 
unto the mountain called Abarim (which is a very high 
mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, 
to such as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest part of the 
excellent land of Canaan), he dismissed the Senate, and as 
he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still 
discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, 
and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in 



THE PASSAGE IN TACITUS. 171 

the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest 
any one should venture to say that, because of his extra- 
ordinary virtue, he went to God." Philo, however, gives a 
different account of this occurrence (Yita Moys. c. 39) and 
one more in accordance with Jewish belief, for he says that, 
" when he was about to depart from hence to heaven, to take 
up his abode there, and, leaving this mortal life to become 
immortal, having been summoned by the Father, who now 
changed him, having previously been a double being, com- 
posed of soul and body, into the nature of a single body, 
transforming him wholly and entirely into a most sun-like 
mind ; he then," &c. To this he adds that " he prophesied 
admirably what should happen to himself after his death, 
relating, that is, how he had died when he was not as yet 
dead, and how he was buried without any one being present 
so as to know of his tomb, because, in fact, he was entombed 
not by mortal hands, but by immortal powers, so that he was 
not placed in the tomb of his forefathers," &c. It is evident 
that this tradition would be inconsistent with a corporeal 
resurrection and ascension, and, consequently, the other tra- 
dition was followed. 

If the crucifixion of Jesus took place in the manner it is 
stated to have done, it must have been a political execution 
on the part of the Eoman governor. Tacitus (Annal. xv. 44) 
says that the Christians "had their denomination from 
Christus, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was put to death 
(supplicio adfectus erat) by the procurator, Pontius Pilate." 
This passage of Tacitus, which, since the forged passage in 
Josephus has been given up, is the only external evidence of 
this event, is not quoted by any of the Fathers. Tertullian, 
who has quoted largely from Tacitus, has not alluded to it, 
and, if he had known of it, he could not have called Tacitus 
" the most prating of all liars," " mendaciorum loquacissi- 
mus." Eusebius would gladly have availed himself of it if 
he had known of its existence. Clemens Alexandrinus, who 
brought together all that Pagan authors had admitted 
respecting the existence of Christ or Christians, is silent re- 
specting it. The statement that Nero inflicted the most ex- 
quisite punishments upon the Christians is explicitly contra- 
dicted by the statement of Melito, who was Bishop of Sardis, 
and who states, in his Apology, the date of which Eusebius 
fixes at a.d. 170, that, up to his time, the Christians had 



172 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

never been persecuted ; and Tertullian, in his Apology, ad- 
dressed to the Emperor and Senate of Rome in a.d. 198, 
says, " The Christian persecutors have always been men 
divested of justice, piety, and common shame, upon whose 
government you yourselves have put a brand, and rescinded 
their acts by restoring those whom they condemned. But 
of all the emperors, down to this present reign, who under- 
stood anything of justice or humanity, name me one who 
ever persecuted the Christians. On the contrary, we show 
you the excellent Marcus Aurelius for our protector and 
patron, who, though he could not publicly set aside the 
laws, yet he did as well, he publicly rendered them ineffectual 
in another way, by discouraging our accusers with the last 
punishment, viz., burning alive." When it is added that 
the Annals of Tacitus were first published by Johannes de 
Spire, at Yenice, in the year 1468, from a single manuscript 
which was in his own possession, and from which all other 
manuscripts and printed copies are taken, it becomes evident 
that this passage also is a forgery, either by Johannes de 
Spire himself, or by the transcriber of the manuscript, which 
was said to date from the eighth century. 

Tacitus was born in a.d. 62, and wrote his Annals towards 
the close of his life, probably about a.d. 107. Irenaeus, who 
wrote about a.d. 182, and was accounted one of the most emi- 
nent and illustrious early writers of the Church, not only 
ignores this passage, but accuses the Gospel writers of forgery. 
In Dr. Grabe's Irenseus (1. II. c. 39), which is entitled " A de- 
monstration that the Lord preached after his baptism, not 
merely for one year, but that he employed in preaching the 
whole term of his life," the following passage occurs : " For 
he came to save all through himself —all, I say, who through 
him are born to God — infants, little children, boys, youths, 
and old people. Therefore he preached in every stage of 
life, and became an infant with infants, sanctifying infants ; 
a child among children, sanctifying those of the same age as 
himself, and at the same time supplying an example to them 
of piety, of justice, and of submission ; a youth among youths, 
becoming an example to youths, and sanctifying them to 
the Lord. So, also, an elder among elders, that the 
teacher might be perfect in all things, not only according to 
the exposition (law or rule) of truth, but also according to the 
period of life ; and sanctifying at the same time the elders, 



THE PASSAGE IN IREXJEUS. 173 

becoming an example even to them. After that he came to 
death, that he might be the first-born from the dead, he 
himself having pre-eminence in all things, the Prince of Life, 
above all, and excelling all. But to establish their own forgery, 
that it is written of him, to call (it?) the acceptable year of the 
Lord, they say against themselves that he preached (during) 
one year (only ?), and suffered on the twelfth month (of it?). 
They have forgotten — giving up every (important ?) affair of 
his, and taking away the more necessary, the more honour- 
able, and, I say, that advanced period of his in which, 
teaching diligently, he presided over all. For how did he 
obtain disciples if he did not teach ? And how did he teach 
— not having attained the age of a master (or doctor ?) ? 
For he came to baptism who had not yet completed thirty 
years of age (for thus Luke, who indicates his years, lays it 
down, and Jesus was, as it were, entering on thirty years 
when he came to baptism) : and after (his ?) baptism he 
preached only one year — on completing his thirtieth year he 
suffered (death), being as yet only a young man, who had not 
attained maturity. But as the chief part of thirty years 
belongs to youth (or, as a person of thirty may be considered 
as a young man ?), and every one will confess him to be such 
until the fortieth year ; but from the fortieth to the fiftieth 
year he declines into old age, which our Lord having attained 
he taught, " as the gospel and all the elders who in Asia 
assembled with John the disciple of the Lord testify, and as 
John himself had taught them. And he (John ?) remained 
with them till the time of Trajan. And some of them saw 
not only John, but other apostles, and heard the same things 
from them, and bear the same testimony to this revelation." 
This passage shows that Jesus cannot have died till a.d. 47, 
for Irenseus expressly adopts the statement of Luke that he 
was thirty years of age in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. 
Pontius Pilate succeeded Valerius Gratus in a.d. 28 and 
ceased to govern in a.d. 37, therefore Jesus must have out- 
lived his supposed execution some eighteen years, and have 
died peaceably in the bosom of his family at the end of that 
time. Irenseus was the disciple of Papias, who also ignored 
the Crucifixion, and the Pauline epistles admit that the doc- 
trine of a crucified Christ was " unto the Jews a stumbling- 
block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness," thus showing that 
even at the time they were written Christians were not agreed 



174 GOSPEL HTSTORY. 

respecting the Crucifixion. It was a stumbling-block because 
there is no prediction whatever of a crucified Messiah in the 
Old Testament. Dan. ix. 26 really refers to the Romans 
establishing an aristocracy in the place of a monarchy, and 
Zech. xii. 10 belongs apparently to the reign of Jehoahaz, 
and refers to the conquest of Jerusalem by some nation which 
is not mentioned, and speaks of the great mourning in the 
city for one who is lamented as an only son, who seems to be 
king Josiah. Ezek. xxxvi. 25 and xxxvii. 23 were written 
during the Captivity, refer to the deliverance of the Jewish 
people from the idolatrous nations which surrounded them, 
and strike at the root of the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice by 
declaring that every man is to be punished for his own sins 
only. Josephus does not say a word respecting the Messianic 
hopes of his countrymen, and Philo, who does speak of a 
hero similar to the Messiah, says not a word of his crucifixion 
or death. Isa. liii. is by an unknown author who wrote after 
the return from Captivity, and refers to the writer himself. 
All the passages in the New Testament which refer to the 
accomplishment of prophecy were written after the event, 
and are consequently valueless. 

Origen (Contra Cels., c. 10) admits that blind belief was 
all that was required of the people. He says, " Since our 
adversaries are continually making such a stir about our taking 
things on trust, I answer that we who see plainly and have 
found the vast advantage that the common people, who make 
up by far the greater number, do manifestly and frequently 
reap thereby, I say we, who are well advised of these things, 
do professedly teach them to believe without examination" 
This is very different from the injunction of St. Chrysostom, 
who says, "Examine, examine the Scriptures. What ! when 
we receive money, we desire to count it over ourselves, and 
when Divine knowledge is in question, shall we accept 
blindly the opinions of others ? Examine, examine the 
Scriptures." 

Irenseus bases his accusation against the evangelists upon 
Luke iv. 19, where Jesus is represented as saying that he had 
been appointed " to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 
This refers to Lev. xxv. 10, a passage which belongs un- 
doubtedly to a late period of Jewish legislation, the chapters 
in which it occurs having the commands addressed to the 
children of Israel instead of to Aaron and his sons. In the 



THE SIBYLLINE 0KACLE3. 175 

following verses it is "directed that there shall be neither 
sowing nor reaping, planting, pruning, nor gathering for that 
whole year, which is so manifestly impossible that it cannot 
be supposed that it was ever acted upon, still less that it was 
ever a Divine command. Irenseus appears to be endeavour- 
ing to substitute a figurative year of fifty years' duration as 
the " acceptable year." However this may be, it is certain 
that he did not believe in the Crucifixion of Jesus, and he 
makes John live till the time of Trajan, who began to reign 
a.d. 98. This agrees with Eusebius's statement that John was 
present at the Council of Ephesus in a.d. 99. It is evident 
that there were two parties in the Church, the one believing 
with the Paulinists in the Crucifixion, the other disbelieving 
that such an event had ever taken place. 

We have already seen that Paul recognised the Sibyls as 
inspired, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, who quotes his 
very words, and the Sibyl speaks plainly of the crucifixion 
and also of other events narrated in the Gospels. The Ery- 
thraean Sibyl, from whom we are about to quote, informs 
us (1. 287 et sqq.) that she was one of Noah's daughters-in- 
law, and was on board the ark. The book opens with God 
speaking to Noah from heaven. After commanding him to 
make the ark, &c, God continues, — 

" My name has nine letters and four syllables : consider 
who I am. The three first syllables have each two letters, 
the other has the rest, and there are five consonants. The 
hundreds of all this number are twice eight, and bhrice three 
decads, with their sevens. He that knows who I am shall 
not be ignorant of that divine wisdom which is from me." 

These verses are in Greek, but no Greek name of God has 
these letters, and the original must have been written in 
some Eastern language. In the account of the Deluge the 
Sibyl places Ararat in Phrygia, near a city called Celcenes, 
while the Jewish Ararat was situated to the east of the Caspian 
Sea, and certainly not in Asia Minor. The Samaritan ver- 
sion calls Ararat Serendib, which is the name of Ceylon, the 
island where the Hindoos place Paradise. There are several 
other differences from the Jewish account, such as there being' 
a key to the ark, Noah's sending forth a dove first instead 
of a raven, and his only remaining forty-one days in the ark. 
These differences are only mentioned here to show that these 
verses were not written by either a Jew or a Christian. What 



176 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

is to the purpose is that it was here that the worship of Atjs, 
who, as Martianus Capella informs us, was identical with 
Osiris, Amnion, Adonis, Apollo, &c, and who was suspensus 
a ligno and restored to life again on the 25th of March, more 
particularly prevailed, while the death of Apollo after he had 
been killed by Python was bewailed by three women, just as 
that of Christ is in Mark's gospel. 

After describing the golden age after the Deluge, which is 
the sixth generation according to the Sibyl (Josephus makes 
seven generations before that event) , and the second genera- 
tion of terrestrial men, the Titans, who are the seventh, she 
proceeds as follows : — 

" Then the son of the Great God shall come amongst men, 
being clothed with flesh, being like mortal men on the earth. 
His name shall have four vowels and two consonants which 
are double, and I will declare and interpret what number 
may be made by the numeral letters in that name. First, 
there are eight monads or units, as many tens, and eight 
hundred, in all 888." This makes 'Irjaov?, thus : — 



T = 10 

V = 8 

a = 200 

o = 70 

v = 400 

* = 200 



This name and number refer to the higher branches of 
astrology, and form part of what is termed the sacred lan- 
guage, upon which it is not necessary to dwell here. The 
Sibyl indicates this by saying " The numbers above men- 
tioned will signify Christ's name to the men who are infidels," 
showing that the allusion was well known. The period 
when Christ was to come is fixed in tlie third book as 
follows : — 

Avrap iirsl r Fcop,rj ical Acyvrrrov ftaacXsvcrsi, 
Ets sv Wvvovaa, tots &rj (Bao-Cksia pusylaTrj 
AOavaTOV jBaaikrjos sir av0pa)7roLcn cjxivsiTai. 
"Hjjsi 8' ayvos ava^ irdarjs <yr)s afcrjiTTpa fcpaTrjTcop 
Eis alwius tt&vtcls, ETrHyopisvoLo yjyovoio. 



PREDICTIONS OF THE SIBYL. 177 

Christ was therefore to come after Rome had annexed 
Egypt to the empire. Returning to the first book we find it 
predicted that priests shall offer to Christ gold, myrrh, and 
frankincense; that there shall be a voice crying through the 
desert to mortals to make their paths straight, and that a 
barbarous man, being enticed by dancing, shall cut off the 
speaker's head and give it as a reward. The beautiful stone 
shall then come out of the land of Egypt, and the Hebrew 
nation shall stumble against it ; but the Gentiles shall be 
gathered together by his conduct, for he shall show eternal 
life to the elect ; but for the wicked he shall prepare eternal 
fire. The miracles Christ is to perform are then predicted, 
especially the feeding the five thousand, only in the Sibyl 
there is only one fish, and the twelve baskets-full are given 
to the Virgin. Israel is then represented as striking and 
spitting venom upon the Son of God, and as giving him gall 
for meat and vinegar for drink. This, however, is done in 
the gospels by the Roman soldiers, as it would have been 
impossible to represent the Jews, who had no legal power to 
do so, as crucifying Christ. We have then the crown of 
thorns and the piercing of Christ's side by a spear, to which 
the author of the fourth gospel has added the pouring forth 
of blood and water. The Sibyl says that, in consequence of 
the piercing of the- side, there should be three hours of mon- 
strous dark night in the middle of the day. In the gos- 
pels this darkness precedes the death of Jesus. 

The Sibyl concludes by saying that Solomon's temple 
shall give a wonderful sign to men. This anachronism is 
avoided in the gospels by saying that the veil of " the " tem- 
ple was rent in twain. The old temple had at this time been 
pulled down by Herod, and a new one had been built, which 
was inaugurated in a.d. 14 with great splendour, and it was 
placed under the protection of Rome. To the scandal of the- 
faithful, a Roman eagle, made of gold, was placed over the 
principal entrance. Herod acquired so much popularity 
among the JeAvs by this act, that many held him to be the 
promised Messiah, and the sect of the Herodians continued 
to exist even after his death. The Sibyl represents a con- 
nection as existing between the sign given by the temple and 
the descent of Christ to Hades to preach the resurrection to 
the dead. She represents him as rising on the third day, 
demonstrating to men that death resembles a slumber, and 

N 



178 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

as then being taken up in the clouds to a heavenly habita- 
tion. After this there are to be no more prophets ; but the 
^oXol, a word of which the meaning is unknown, are to be 
the guides. The sixth book treats of "the great and cele- 
brated son of the immortal God," whom it calls " the first 
God, of the first fire [a Hindu expression], and his Son 
begotten by a dove, the Spirit, which appeared like a dove 
with white wings." After speaking of the miracles, &c, the 
Sibyl exclaims, "0 thou happy wood on which God was ex- 
tended, the earth shall not keep thee, but thou shalt see the 
heavenly mansion, where the near fiery countenance of God 
shall shine like lightning." This book is important because 
it is quoted both by Lactantius and Sozomen, who says " Ipsi 
Gentiles fatuntur hoc esse Sibyllse carmen, '0 Lignum felix!' " 
&c. Lactantius mentions the complaint against Judsea in 
the verses which precede it. 

Before such predictions as these could be credited by men 
of sense and learning, there must have been some system, 
however erroneous, to' which they corresponded. We find 
this system set forth and accredited by the eminent astrono- 
mer Cassini. He bases it on the assertion of Josephus (Ant. 
Jud. 1. i. c. 3) that "God prolonged the life (of the patriarchs 
who lived before the Deluge) as well by reason of their virtue 
as to afford them the means to perfect the sciences of 
geometry and astronomy, which they had invented; which 
they could not possibly do, if they had lived less than six 
hundred years, because that it is not till after the revolution 
of six ages that the great year is accomplished." He con- 
siders this great year to be a period of lunisolar years,* 
and proceeds to say that "the second lunisolar period com- 
posed of ages is that of 2,300 years, which, being joined 
to one of 600, makes a more exact period of 2,900 years ; 
and two periods of 2,300 years, joined to a period of 600 
years, do make a lunisolar period of 5,200 years, which 
is the interval of the time which is reckoned, according 
to Eusebius's chronology, from the creation of the world to 
the vulgar epocha of the years of Jesus Christ. . . . Thus 
the year of Jesus Christ (which is that of his incarnation and 
birth, according to the tradition of the Church, and as Father 
Grandamy justifies it in his Christian Chronology, and Father 
Ricciolus in his Reformed Astronomy) is also an astronomical 
epocha, in which, according to the modern tables, the middle 
conjunction of the Moon with the Sun happened the 24th of 



CASSINl'S ASTROLOGICAL SYSTEM. 170 

March, according to the Julian form, re-established a little 
after by Augustus, at one o'clock and a half in the morning', 
at the meridian of Jerusalem, the very day of the middle 
Equinox, a Wednesday, which is the day of creation of these 
tivo planets. 

"The day following, March 25th, which, according to the 
ancient tradition of the Church, reported by St. Augustine 
(De Trim 1. iv. c. 5), was the day of our Lord's incarnation, 
was likewise the day of the first phasis of the moon; and, 
consequently, it was the first day of the month, according to 
the usage of the Hebrews, and the first day of the sacred 
year, which, by the divine institution, must begin with the first 
month of the spring, and the first day of a great year, the na- 
tural epocha of which is the concourse of the middle equinox, 
and of the middle conjunction of the Moon with the Sun. 

" This concourse terminates, therefore, the lunisolar periods 
of the preceding ages, and was an epocha from whence began 
a new order of ages, according to the oracle of the Sibyl, 
related by Virgil in these words (Eclog. IV.) : — 

' Magnus ab integro ssecloruui nascitur ordo : 
Jam nova progenies coelo dimittitur alto.' 

"This oracle seems to answer the prophecy of Isaiah, 
Par vulus natus est nobis (c. ix. 6, 7), where this new-born is 
called God and father of future ages : Deus fortis, pater futuri 
sseculi." 

Here we have the origin of the system adopted by Con- 
stantine, Eusebius,- and the Church. Boullanger (Exam. 
Critiq. de St. Paul, c. 8) has observed on this whole subject : 

" The learned Dodwell admits that the books which com- 
pose the ISTew Testament were not made public till at least a 
century after the death of Christ. His words are as follows 
(Dissert, in Irenseum, c. 88, p. 66) : • Latitabant enim usque 
ad recentiora ilia, sen Trajani, seu etiam fortasse Adriani, 
tempora in privatarum ecclesiarum, seu etiam hominum, 
scriniis scripta ilia canonica, ne ad Ecclesise Catholicse noti- 
tiam pervenirent.' If this is certain, how can we be sure 
that these books existed at all before that time ? These 
works were therefore entirely in the hands of churchmen 
down to the third and fourth centuries, that is to say, they 
were at the mercy of certain men with whom self-interest 
and the spirit of party have always been the rule of conduct, 
and who never had either the honesty or the' knowledge 



180 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 



which are necessary for the discovery of truth and for its 
transmission in its original purity. Thus each doctor was 
enabled' to make the sacred books be what he chose ; and 
when, in the reign of Constantine, the Christians found 
themselves supported by the emperor, their leaders were 
enabled to adopt or to cause to be adopted as authentic 
such books as would suit their own interests best, and to 
reject as apocryphal those which did not agree with the 
dominant sect. But, in fact, even if we were certain of 
the authenticity of the books which are now adopted by 
the Church, we should have no guarantee of the authority of 
these writings except the writings themselves, and what his- 
tory can pretend to prove itself by itself? Can one listen 
to witnesses who give no proof of what they state except 
their own word ? We must remember, however, that the 
first Christians were famous for their lies, their fictions, and 
those frauds which are termed ' pious ' when they tend to 
advance the cause of religion. Have not these pious forgers 
attributed works to Jesus Christ himself, and to his succes- 
sors, the apostles ? Have we not from them Sibylline verses, 
which are evidently Christian prophecies made after the 
events, and often copied word for word from the Old and 
New Testaments? If the Mcene Fathers had chosen to 
regard these prophecies as divinely inspired, who could have 
prevented them from inserting them among the canonical 
writings ? and then the Christians would certainly have 
looked upon them as indubitable proofs of the truth of their 
religion. If the Christians, at the very beginning of Chris- 
tianity, believed in works full of lying dreams, such as the 
Shepherd of Hernias, the Gospel of the Infancy, and the 
letter of Jesus Christ to Abgarus, what reliance can we place 
on the books which remain to us from them ? Can we even 
suppose that we have the books as they were originally 
written ? How can we now distinguish between what is 
true and what is false in works in which we see enthusiasm, 
knavery, and credulity appear in every page ? .... If a 
body of men in possession of power, and able to take advan- 
tage of the credulity of mankind, were to find their interest 
concerned in doing so, they would make men believe at the 
end of a few centuries that the adventures of Don Quixote are 
prefectly true, and that the prophecies of Nostradamus have 
been inspired by God Himself. By dint of glosses, of com- 



MISQUOTATIONS IX THE GOSPELS. 181 

mentaries, and of allegories, it is easy to discover and to 
prove what one pleases; however glaring an imposture may 
be, it can be made at last, by the aid of time, cunning, and 
power, to pass for truth, which no one must doubt. Deceivers 
who are obstinate, and who are supported by public autho- 
rity, can make ignorant people, who are always credulous, 
believe anything, especially if they can persuade them that there 
is merit in not noticing inconsistencies, contradictions, and pal- 
pable absurdities, and that there is danger in making use of their 
reason" 

So confidently did the compilers of the Gospels rely upon 
the ignorance of their readers that they have not hesitated to 
put a false quotation from the Old Testament into the mouth 
of Jesus himself in John vii. 38, for there is no such passage 
to be found as "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 
water." This is on a par with the mistake of the divinely- 
inspired Stephen, who, in Acts vii. 37, mistakes Jehovah, 
who in Exodus is represented as speaking to Moses on Mount 
Sinai, for an angel, and with that of Paul, who speaks in 
Gal. iii. 19 of a promise " ordained by angels in the hand 
of a mediator," which "angels" are nowhere to be found. It 
is also on. a par with the unscrupulous perversion of history 
in Acts xii. 23, where we are told that " the angel of the 
Lord " smote Herod, because he gave not God the glory. 
The story as given by Josephus (Ant. XIX., viii. 2) is as fol- 
lows : " Having now reigned over Judaea three years, he 
entered the town of Caesarea, which was formerly called the 
Tower of Strabo. Here he celebrated some shows in honour 
of Caesar. . . . On the second day of these shows he came 
into the theatre in the early part of the day, dressed in a 
robe of silver, of most beautiful workmanship. The rays of 
the sun, just then rising, made his dress glitter so as to give 
him a majestic and awful appearance. The flatterers soon 
began in several parts of the theatre to utter acclamations 
which proved injurious to him, calling him a god, and saying, 
* Be propitious to us, and as we have hitherto respected you as 
a man, now we acknowledge you to be more than mortal.' The 
king neither reproved these persons, nor rejected their impious 
flattery. Presently, however, casting his eyes upwards, he 
saw an owl sitting upon a rope over his head. He perceived 
it to be a messenger of evil to him, as it had been before of 
his prosperity, and immediately was grieved at heart. Violent 



182 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

pains in his bowels also began to affect him, which caused 
him the greatest agony from the first. Turning to his 
friends, he said, ' I, your god, am required to depart this 
life. Fate has immediately confuted the false applauses you 
have bestowed on me, and I who have been called immortal 
by you am hurried away to death. But the will of Destiny 
must be submitted to, since it is God's will, and I have not 
lived by any means a bad and mean life (ovSafxrj cpavXws), 
but in that splendour which men consider to be the greatest 
of happiness.' " Josephus adds that he died after five days of 
suffering, and that the whole population, with their wives 
and children, were imploring God to save their king, and 
that every place was full of weeping and lamentation, so that 
Herod himself could not abstain from weeping. Not content 
with misrepresenting this occurrence as a Divine judgment, 
the author of the Acts has taken advantage of the ambiguous 
meaning of the word ayysXos, which means messenger and 
angel, to represent the owl as "an angel of the Lord." Eusebius 
(H. E. 1. II., c. 10) has deliberately mistranslated the passage 
as follows : "After a little while, raising himself, he saw an 
angel sitting above his head on a rope:" ^Avaxvtyas Be tt)$ 
eclvtov /cs(j)a\r]s vTrepKaOi^o/xevov slBev ayysXov sirl a^oivlov twos. 
For this he is justly reprehended by Lardner, but what are 
we to think of the " inspired " author of the Acts, whom 
Eusebius has done little more than follow ? 

M. Boullanger, in the above passage, accuses the Christians 
of having forged the Sibylline verses. But Cicero (De Div., 1. 
I.) says, "We take notice of the verses of the Sibyl, which she 
is said to have penned in a fury or prophetic frenzy, the in- 
terpretation whei eof was lately thought to have been about 
to declare in the Senate House that, if we would be safe, we 
should acknowledge him for a king who really was so. If 
there be any such thing contained in the Sibylline books, 
then, we demand, concerning what man is it spoken, and of 
what time? For whoever framed these Sibylline verses, 
craftily contrived that, whatsoever should come to pass, 
might seem to have been predicted by them, by taking away 
all distinctions of persons and times. He also purposely 
affected obscurity, that the same verses might be accom- 
modated, sometimes to one thing, sometimes to another. 
But that they proceeded, not from fury and prophetic frenzy, 
but rather from art and contrivance, doth no less appear 



THE SIBYLLIXE ACROSTIC. 183 

otherwise than from the Acrostic in them. This shows that 
the Acrostic was in the Sibylline books in Cicero's time, and 
Ensebius says that Cicero quoted the very verses which con» 
tained the Acrostic, which has been translated by Wye Sal- 
tonstall as follows: — 

I n that time, when the Great Judge shall come, 
E arth shall sweat; the Eternal King-, from 's throne, 
S hall judge the world, and all that in it be : 
U nrighteous men and righteous shall God see 
S eated on high with saints eternallv 

C ompassed, which in the last age have been, 
H ence shall the earth grow desolate again; 
R egardless statues and gold shall be held vain ; 
I n greedy flames shall burn earth, seas and skies, 
S tand up again dead bodies shall, and rise, 
T hat they may see all these with their eyes. 

C leansing the faithful in twelve fountains, He 

R eign shall for ever unto eternity ; 

V ery God that he is, and our Saviour too, 

X hrist that did suffer for us — and I trust that will do, 



184 GOSPEL HISTORY. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Although Eusebius adopted the remarkable period of 5200 
years, which has the peculiarity of including several systems 
besides the one in which it originates, the authorities are by 
no means agreed upon the subject. According to Josephus 
the period from the Creation to Christ is 5688 years. Ac- 
cording to the (Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople 
in a.d. 381, which has been followed by the Greek and 
Armenian Churches, the world was created in B.C. 5509. 
The Church Council held at Alexandria in a.d. 362, fixes it 
in B.C. 5439, while the English Church follows Archbishop 
Ussher in placing it in B.C. 4004, or, as it should be, in B.C. 
4000. It was also settled at a council held at Jerusalem in 
a.d. 200 that the Creation took place on Sunday the 8th of 
April, at the vernal equinox, and at the fall of the moon, and 
all the cosmogonies are agreed that the Creation took place 
at this period of the year. This is the case with the Mithraic 
system also, the resemblance between which and Christianity 
was so strong that the Pagans accused the early Christians 
of being merely a sect who worshipped the sun under the 
name of Christ : "Alii plane humanius et verisimilius solem 
credunt Deum nostrum" (Tertull. Apologet.). The Fathers 
of the Church, unable to deny the resemblance, attributed it 
to the Devil, who, they said, foreseeing what was about to 
happen, and wishing to deprive the mystery of Redemption 
of its novelty, hastened to forestal God in order to set forth 
this ineffable mystery under the name of Mithra (Tertull. 
Apolog. et De Corona ; Justin, Apolog., 1. II. et Dial, cum 
Tryph.). 

The Mithraic Zodiacs represented the vernal equinox as 
corresponding to the commencement of Cancer (Porphyr. de 
antro) in what they held to be the primaeval state of the 
heavens, and as the birth of Mithra took place when this 
equinox corresponded with the commencement of Taurus, 
the followers of Mithra said that their Redeemer was born 



MEAXIXG OF THE WORD GOSPEL. 185 

4000 years after the Creation, for the}', like the Eg} r ptians, 
allowed 2000 years for the passage of the sun through a 
sign. The same is the case among the Hindus. Vishnu, the 
Mediator God, who became incarnate as a green shepherd, 
and took the name of Chris-en, delivered the world from the 
serpent Calengam at the very same period that Mithra 
regenerated it. This is why the sacred paintings of India 
represent Chris-en sometimes as a green child held in the 
arms of the Virgin, who is seated on Taurus, and sometimes 
as a green warrior, who is seated on the celestial elephant — a 
figure composed of the elect arranged in such a way as to 
represent that animal — and pointing his divine arrow at the 
serpent Calengam, the symbol of evil, thus resembling the 
Grecian Apollo who kills the serpent Python with his arrows. 

The proof of the connection between Mithraism and Chris- 
tianity is that on several churches, some of as late date as 
the eleventh century, are still to be seen the Mithraic em- 
blems adapted to the Christian astrology, which differs both 
from the Mithraic system and from the astronomical systems 
adopted by Eusebius and others. The religious monuments 
of the Middle Ages have their symbolical hieroglyphics, just as 
the Egyptian temples had. The grotesque figures which adorn 
them had a meaning for those who erected these buildings 
which is now lost, but it is only our ignorance of their mean- 
ing which makes us suppose them to be the result of archi- 
tectural caprice. We might as well believe that the Egyptian 
hieroglyphs were the result of the extravagant fancies of 
their priests, for if we admit that the Zodiacs of Denderah 
and Esne are astrological representations, we must in common 
consistency look upon the Zodiacs of the Byzantine churches 
as having- also a hidden meaning. 

The title of the gospels, JLvayyzXia, or " glad tidings," is 
usually supposed to refer to the redemption of mankind by 
the death of Christ from the penalties attached to the sin 
of Adam, but the " glad tidings " really were the near approach 
of the kingdom of God and of the end of the world, which, 
according to the Christian astrological system, was to begin 
at that period. The end of the world is announced in the 
most explicit terms in Matt. xxiv. and parallel passages, and 
also in the Epistles (Phil. iv. 4, 5, James v. 7-9). The early 
Christians expected with the greatest impatience the coming 
of the celestial Redeemer w r ho was to place them on his right 



186 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

hand, and as war, famine, and pestilence were supposed to 
be the forerunners of the great catastrophe, they wished for 
and predicted nothing but calamities. This was why the 
Pagans looked upon them as men to be avoided, and why it 
was considered extremely unlucky to meet one (Lucian, 
Philopatris) . Although it had been predicted by certain Alex- 
andrian astrologers long before the Christian era that this 
event was near at hand (for the end of the world, the rising of 
the Sun of Judgment, and the general resurrection of the dead 
were Egyptian beliefs), little attention was paid to their pre- 
dictions until the Roman Empire began to extend its iron 
sway over the whole of the East. The Jews, seeing their 
temple profaned, Jerusalem subjected to a foreign and in- 
tolerable yoke, and the impossibility of averting the ruin 
of their country, began then to think that nothing but a mira- 
cle could save the house of' Jacob from ruin, and those who 
still had faith in the God of their fathers thought that their 
Messiah had come, and that the kingdom of God was really 
at hand. This was the origin of their contempt for worldly 
things. " The Christians despise every thing," says Lucian 
(De morte Peregrini); "they consider all goods as common 
to them all." It is so evident that the gospels are mistaken 
on this point that Christian writers have been forced to 
admit it (Baron, vol. L, p. 656 ; Mills, Proleg. to the New 
Testament, p. 146). This admission is, of course, fatal to the 
prophetic nature of the discourses on this subject attributed 
to Jesus. 

In Mark xiii. 14 and Matt. xxiv. 15, there is an indication 
of the signs which are to precede the final catastrophe : 
" When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken 
of by Daniel the Prophet, standing where it ought not (let 
him that readeth understand), then let them that be in Ju- 
daea flee to the mountains," &c. (Mark xiii. 14). In Matthew 
this is altered into "stand in the holy place," h IspS tottw, 
thus agreeing with the LXX., koX sirl to lepbv pSsXvy/jua rcbv 
Sprjfioascov, but differing from the Hebrew, which is " Upon 
the battlements shall be the abominations of desolation." 
This refers to the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans 
under Gabinius (b.g. 51), when the Jewish monarchy was de- 
clared to be at an end, and the idolatrous ensigns of the 
Romans stood upon the battlements ; but this would not 
have suited the writer's purpose. It is very remarkable that in 



THE EVAXGELIOr ETERXUM. 187 

Luke (xxi. 20) there is no allusion to Daniel's prophecy, and 
the passage contains only the trite announcement, " When ye 
shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know 
that the desolation thereof is nigh," 

A clue to the date when these passages were written may 
be found in 1 Mace. i. 54, where an " abomination of deso- 
lation " is also spoken of, which consisted in the setting up 
of a statue of Jupiter on the altar at Jerusalem by Antio- 
chus Epiphanes : "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, 
in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomi- 
nation of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars 
throughout the cities of Juda on every side." It is certain 
that no Pagan ruler profaned the temple again until the 
time of Adrian. Dio Cassius says that the emperor, after 
transforming Jerusalem into iElia Capitolina, raised a temple 
to Jupiter on the site of that of Jehovah (Hist. Rom. 1. lix. 
12). Jerome (Ad Is. ii.) says, "Ubi quondam erat templum 
et religio Dei, ibi Hadriani statua est, et Jovis Idolium col- 
locatum est." There was, therefore, a statue of Adrian as 
well as one of Jupiter. Moreover, Jerome (Ad Matt. xxiv. 
15) says positively that that passage referred to the times of 
Adrian. In the terrible insurrection which followed, Bar- 
Ohozeba, who received the name of Bar-Cochba, or the Son 
of the Star, and to whom the prophecy of Balaam, " There 
shall come a star of Jacob," and of Haggai, "I will shake 
the heavens and the earth," was applied, was looked upon 
as the Messiah ; but after gaining wonderful victories over 
the Romans, he was finally defeated and killed. 

One of the most singular episodes in the history of the 
Church is the recognition of a new gospel called the Evan- 
gelium Eternum by the Romish Church in the twelfth cen- 
tury. This gospel was first published (after having been 
preached for some time) by Joachim, the Abbot of Sora, in 
Calabria. It was called the Covenant of Peace, and was in- 
tended to unite the Mohammedan and all other sects. 
Nearly all the monkish orders, including the Dominicans 
and Franciscans, received it. This gospel was also called the 
Gospel of the Holy Ghost. It taught that the two imperfect 
ages, that of the Father and of the Son, represented by the 
Old and. New Testaments, were past, and that that of the 
Holy Ghost, the perfect one, was at hand. Mosheim says 
that this gospel was not only preached, but actively sup- 



188 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

ported by the Roman See for upwards of thirty years. In 
a.d. 1250 Gerhard, a Franciscan friar, published an intro- 
duction to this gospel, in which he prophesied the destruc- 
tion of the Roman See, and said that the Gospel of Christ 
was to be abrogated in the year 1260. This referred to the 
Millennium which was expected by the Pope and the faithful 
in that 3 r ear, but upon which Gerhard, instead of predicting 
the destruction of all things prior to the reign of Christ on 
earth, put a different construction. The Pope caused the 
book to be burned, and banished the author to his house in 
the country. The year 1260 having passed without the 
moon and stars falling from heaven, the "infallible" Pope 
found himself in the wrong, and the whole matter was 
quietly allowed to drop. 

The idea of vicarious punishment is so plainly contrary to 
all those notions of justice which are universally received and 
acted upon, that nothing but the existence of a system in 
which the sacrifices of unoffending animals were believed to 
have been ordained by God to appease his wrath at human 
wickedness from time immemorial can have reconciled the 
human mind to so extravagant an absurdity. The Jewish 
institution of the Day of Atonement, on which occasion two 
goats were brought to the tabernacle, one of which was slain 
as a sin-offering, is universally considered to be typical of the 
sacrifice of Christ. The goat which bore the sins of the 
people was however not sacrificed, but was taken into the wil- 
derness, where Azazel was supposed to be waiting for it. 
This institution is evidently contrary to the teaching of other 
parts of Scripture, as has already been shown, and is the 
result of the contact of the Jews with Pagan nations during 
the Captivity. It is after that event that the doctrine " every 
man shall be put to death for his own sin " (Dent. xxiv. 16) 
disappears to give place to the belief in Azazel, which is 
affirmed in Lev. xvi. 

Azazel, whose name in its later sense signifies "defiance to 
God," and the first portion of whose name is identical with 
Typhon, who had his home in the desert, was the Evil Spirit, 
and corresponded to the Persian Ahriman. A Midrasch of 
the Talmud says on this subject, " The people offered sacri- 
fices to demons, and to evil spirits, for they liked to offer 
sacrifices, and would not dispense with them. But the Lord 



THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 189 

said, ' Offer your sacrifices unto me : then it will at any rate 
be to the only God that you will have sacrificed them-' " 

Azazel is not mentioned in any canonical or apocryphal 
book of the Old Testament. In the book of Enoch he is 
represented to be one of the fallen angels, and the name 
also occurs in Jewish traditions, but he was never a subject 
of Jewish belief until popular superstition, aided by priestly 
influence, eventually made him such. The Mischna says 
that the liberality of Joshua ben Gamalia was such that he 
caused the two wooden tablets in the urn in the Temple, on 
one of which was the inscription " To Jehovah " and on the 
other " To Azazel," to be replaced by two golden ones (Mischna, 
Joma, III. j 8). 

It is evident from Deut. xvi. 16, a portion of the Penta- 
teuch which is of pre-Captivity date, that the Day of Atone- 
ment was not then observed as a festival. The Feast of 
Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Taber- 
nacles are enjoined in it ; but not a word is said of that 
festival the neglect of which was punished by being cut off 
from the nation. The Jewish name for this day is Jom 
Kipour. The word Kipour, however, does not signify pardon. 
In the same book (Leviticus) in which the Day of Atonement 
is ordered to be kept, it is said (xii. 8) respecting the woman 
who brings a sacrifice of turtles, u vekipour aleah hakohen," 
" and the priest shall purify her," for it is evident that the 
priest has nothing to pardon in a woman who has been con- 
fined. The same word is applied (xiv. 20) to a leper who 
has been cleansed ; and in v. 53, to a house which has been 
tainted by leprosy. It would evidently be absurd to say 
that the priest had pardoned a house, and the word really 
means " to purify." The Day of Atonement only preceded 
the Feast of Tabernacles by four days. It is inconceivable, 
therefore, that the people should not have been ordered in 
the above cited chapter of Deuteronomy to repair to Jerusa- 
lem four days before that festival if it had been then in 
existence. Another festival is omitted in Deuteronomy — 
that of the New Year, or the Eosch Haschanah. This 
festival is also connected w r ith the Day of Atonement, for it 
is said (Treatise Eosch Haschanah, 1. I.), " God only judges 
men during the twelve days which elapse between New 
Tear's Day and the Day of Atonement." E. Jachonon says, 
" Three books are open on the day of Eosch Haschanah, one 



190 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

inscribed with the names of the perfectly wicked, another 
with those of the perfectly just, and the third with those of 
persons who are neither the one nor the other. The just 
are immediately inscribed and sealed for life ; the wicked 
for death ; while the others remain in a state of suspense 
from New Year's Day till the Day of Atonement. If they 
repent, they are inscribed for life ; if not, for death." 

Satan, according to the Talmud (Treatise Jouma, Jom 
Hakipourim), has no power on the day of Jom Kipour, though 
he is all powerful on other days. The Talmud asks why? 
and gives the following highly satisfactory reply : " Rami, 
the son of Hami, has said, ' The numeral letters of Satan 
(written Sadan, as it was occasionally spelt) make three 
hundred and sixty-four days. During these three hundred 
and sixty- four days he has power to do evil, but on the three 
hundred and sixty-fifth, which is the day of Kipour, he has 
no power at all.' " 

Origen (Contra Cels., 1. II.) praises Jesus for having lived a 
Jew, attached to the letter as well as the spirit of the Mosaic 
teaching. It is evident, therefore, that he must have been 
supposed to teach one or other of the opposing doctrines 
which have been spoken of. We find, however, that in the 
very earliest period of Christianity two parties — known as 
that of Peter and James, and that of Paul — were in exist- 
ence. In Galatians i. 19 Paul says that he saw James, the 
brother of Jesus. Clement (Const. Apost., i. 8, c. 85), or the 
author of that work, calls him u James, the brother of Christ 
according to the flesh, his servant as the son of God, 
Bishop of Jerusalem, ordained by Christ himself and by the 
apostles." Ignatius (Adsciipt. Epist. ad S. Joann., apost. et 
evang.) says, "James strongly resembled Jesus in his per- 
sonal appearance, as well as in his mode of speaking, and 
his manner of living, so that one would have taken him for 
his twin brother" — " ac si ejusdem uteri frater esset 
gemellus." The only description of Christ's personal ap- 
pearance extant is contained in the forged letter of Publius 
Lentulus, on which the pictorial representations of Christ are 
founded. It being a well-known custom for the provincial 
authorities to transmit information respecting anything of 
moment which occurred in their provinces to the Emperor 
and Senate at "Rome, it was felt that inconvenient questions 
might be asked as to why the existence of Christ — who went 



THE LETTER OF PUBLIUS LEXTULUS. 191 

about accompanied try twelve apostles, seventy disciples, and 
a number of women and other followers, and performing the 
most wonderful miracles — should not have been reported. 
Accordingly, the following letter, purporting to be written 
by PubKus Lentulus, the supposed predecessor of Pontius 
Pilate, containing a description of his personal appearance, 
was forged, and first appeared in the History of Christ 
by Hieronymus Xavier, a cousin of the celebrated Francis 
Xavier. It is preceded in some parchment MSS. of the 
Gospels — which were written about 370 years ago, and are 
j>reserved in the library at Jena — by the following- inscrip- 
tion : — 

" In the time of Octavius Ceesar, Publius Lentulus, pro- 
consul in the parts of Judea and the territory of Herod the 
king, is said to have written this letter to the Roman senate, 
which w r as afterwards found by Eutropius in the annals of 
the Romans." 

It is not many years since the great libraries of England, 
France, and Germany jxretended to possess authentic copies 
of this epistle, which is as follows : — 

" Lentulus, Prsefect of Jerusalem, to the Senate and 
People of Rome, greeting : 

" At this time there hath appeared, and still lives, a man 
endued with great powers, whose name is Jesus Christ. Men 
say that he is a mighty prophet : his disciples call him the 
Son of God. He restores the dead to life, and heals the 
sick of all sorts of ailments and diseases. He is a man of 
stature proportionately tall, and his cast of countenance has 
a certain severity in it, so full of effect as to induce be- 
holders to love and yet to fear him. His hair is of the colour 
of wine as far as to the bottom of his ears, without radia- 
tion, and straight, and from the lower part of his ears it is 
crooked down to his shoulders ; at the top of his head it is 
parted after the fashion of the Nazarites. His forehead is 
smooth and clean, and his face without a pimple, adorned by 
a certain temperate redness : his countenance gentlemanlike 
and agreeable, his nose and mouth nothing amiss, his beard 
thick and divided into two bunches, of the same colour as 
his hair : his eyes blue and uncommonly bright. In re- 
proving and rebuking he is formidable ; in teaching and 
exhorting of a bland and agreeable tongue. He has a 
wonderful grace of person united with seriousness. No one 



192 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

liatli ever seen him smile, but weeping indeed they have. 
He hatha lengthened stature of body 5 his hands are straight 
and turned up ; his arms are delectable ; in speaking, de- 
liberate and slow, and sparing of his conversation — the most 
beautiful of countenances among the sons of men." 

It is unfortunate that this portrait contradicts not only 
Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and Augustine, 
who all say that Jesus was rather ugly than handsome, and 
was unpleasant to look at, but also the supposed prophecy 
in Isa. liii. 14, " His visage was so marred more than any 
man, and his form more than the sons of men." Several 
other impositions of the same description as the letter of 
Publius Lentulus have been sanctioned by the Church. 
Towards the end of the sixth century it was proclaimed that 
a letter from Jesus Christ had fallen from heaven on the 
altar dedicated to him in St. Peter's at Rome, which ordered 
the faithful not to work on Sundays, or to prepare meals, or 
to travel on that day. Another letter was said to have been 
brought to Jerusalem by Michael the archangel, towards the 
end of the eighth century, in which the faithful were ordered 
to pay their tithes regularly, and to go to church with 
liberal offerings. The most important of these celestial 
letters was the one which Peter the Hermit carried about in 
1096 to excite the Christians to join in the Crusades. 
Xavier also inserted in his History of Jesus Christ a pre- 
tended letter from Pontius Pilate to the Emperor — " A man 
hath appeared in these days in this country whom his 
disciples call God, and who performed sundry miracles. He 
has been seen by a great number of persons, and went up to 
heaven alive. His disciples are now doing many wonderful 
things, and say that he is God, and has brought the true 
way of salvation." This is on a par with the forged testi- 
mony to Christ fathered on Josephus by Eusebius, who has 
the insolence to exult as follows over it (H. E. i. 11) : "When 
such testimony as this is transmitted to us by an historian 
who sprang from the Hebrews themselves, both respecting 
John the Baptist and our Saviour, what subterfuge can be 
left to prevent these from being considered as shameless 
deceivers, who have forged the acts against them ? " In the 
above passage he has adroitly contrived to slip in the forged 
passage respecting Christ with the passage respecting John 
the Baptist which is in Jusephus. 



THE EBIOXITES WERE REFORMED JEWS. 193 

James, the brother of Jesus, who must certainly have 
followed the teaching 1 of his brother and of the chief of the 
apostles (if Peter were such), was martyred according to St. 
Epiphanius (Hser. 28, 50, Antidic. No. 1, 7, 13) at the age 
of ninety-six years. He says, " He w?s still a virgin ; he 
had never had his hair cut, had never bathed, had never 
eaten anything that had lived, and had always worn a single 
tunic." Hegesippus, who is quoted by Eusebius, says, "James, 
the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, was charged 
with the other apostles with the government of the Church. 
He was holy from his mother's womb ; he never drank wine 
or anything that could impair his reason ; he never ate 
flesh, never cut his hair, and never made use of baths or 
perfumes." He used, we are told, to enter the sanctuary 
alone, and was clothed not with wool but with linen. 
Entering in this fashion into the temple, he prayed on his 
knees, and was so assiduous in prayer that they became like 
the knees of a camel. The authorities are not agreed as to 
the time and circumstances of his martyrdom. Eusebius 
says that ;" the Scribes and Pharisees" put him on a wing 
of the temple, but that upon his testifying in favour of Jesus 
instead of against him, they began to stone him, and that 
one of them, a fuller, beat out his brains with the club with 
which he used to beat clothes. Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyrus, 
who wrote the Lives of the Ajjostles, says that he was killed 
by St. Paul ; that the Jews set him on a pinnacle of the 
temple; and that Saul, who was afterwards called Paul, 
thrust him off, and while he yet breathed after his fall some 
one came with a fuller's club and despatched him. 

The ISTazarenes, Nazarites, or Ebionites, were nothing but 
reformed Jews ; " ISTec disciplina ilia apud illos alia quani 
Judaismus reformatus, seu cum fide in Messiam seu Christum 
rite conjunctus " (Selden in Synedr. L. I. c. 5). Jerome (in 
Isa. v. 15) says that the Jews used to curse them three times 
a day in their synagogues, which they would certainly not 
have done if they had not considered them to be dissenting 
Jews. The Acts (iii. 1) represent Peter and John as praying 
at the appointed hours, and as observing all the precepts of 
the law. They also observed the Sabbath day, and so en- 
tirely ccenobitic was their mode of life that Lucian (De morfce 
Peregrini, 13) represents them two centuries later as a sect 
of communists. He says that Peregrinus (who was a cynical 

o 



]94 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

philosopher) got himself initiated into the Christian mysteries 
when he was in Judaea. He adds, however, that " Peregrinus 
soon showed the in that they were mere children in com- 
parison with him, for he became not only a prophet, bnt the. 
head of their sect. He interpreted their writings, and com- 
posed some himself, so that the Christians at last looked 
upon him not only as their legislator, but as a saint." 

The Ebionites generally considered Jesus to be nothing 
but a man who was superior to other men (Iren. i. 26 ; 
Euseb. H. E. iii. 27 ; Epiph. Hseres. vii. n. 2 ; Theodor. 
Hseret. fab. ii. 1 and 2.) In the Acts (ii. 22) Peter calls him 
merely a man : " Jesus the Nazarite, a man approved of God 
among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God 
did by him in the midst of you." Origen (Contra Cels.) 
speaks of two sorts of Ebionites, to the earlier belief of 
whom such passages as Matt. v. 17, " Think not that I am 
come to destroy the law or the prophets : I am not come to 
destroy, but to fulfil," refer. The first Christians, as we have 
seen, were all circumcised, but when the Gospel began to 
spread among the Gentiles, who were unwilling to submit to 
this painful operation, the imposition of hands, fasting, and 
prayer, as practised by the Egyptians, were substituted in 
Christian initiation. The Christians at Borne were always 
looked upon as Jews. It is Jews whom Horace banters on 
their stupidity, and Martial on their fasts. They are spoken 
of in the same way by Ammianus Marcellinus and by Per- 
sius. If these authors had known that there were any 
differences between the Jews and that portion of them who 
called themselves Christians, they would not have been silent 
on the subject. Even in the Apocalypse Christians are 
spoken of as being Jews in reality, for it says (ii. 9), " I 
know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and 
are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." 

In Luke iv. 8 Jesus tells Satan " It is written, Thou shalt 
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." 
Jesus as an orthodox Jew could hold no other language on this 
subject. This was the distinctive dogma of Judaism, and 
the Talmud curiously illustrates this as follows : "A Eabbi 
once said, ' The daughter of Pharaoh (who adopted Moses) 
was an Israelite.' ' How can that be ? ' ' Because she believed 
in the unity of God.' " Spinoza has observed in one of his 
letters, "As to what is alleged by certain churches, that God 



MEANING OF THE TEEM SOX OF GOD. 195 

has assumed our nature, I have expressly stated that I did not 
know what they meant, and, to speak plainly, I will confess 
that they appear to me to speak as absurdly as a person who 
should say that a circle has assumed the form of a square." 

Jesus the Nazarite, 'liiaovs 6 NafopaLos, that name which 
our translators have so singularly avoided mentioning, is the 
term which conveys to us what the brother of James was 
really supposed to be. In Mark's gospel Jesus nowhere gives 
the title of Son of God to himself, and even in c. xiii. 32, 
which is a later insertion, and which is omitted in several 
MSS., he is only represented as an intermediate being between 
the angels and God. In Matthew, however, he is represented 
as using it very often. See c. x. 32, 33, xv. 13, xvi. 17, 
xviii. 10, 14, 19, xxv. 34, xxvi. 53, in none of the parallel 
passages to which is there any similar expression in Mark. 
Conf. also Matt. xii. 50, 6 irarrjp /jlov 6 hv ovpaioi?, with Mark 
iii. 35, 6 ®sb$ : Matt. xx. 23, rjTOLfiaarac virb rov irarpos /jlov, 
in which passage Mark has only iiroi^aaTai : Matt. xxiv. 36, 
si fjur) 6 iraW-jp /juov, while Mark xiii. 32 has only 6 Trartfp ; Matt. 
xxvi. 29, rj fiacrcXeia rov iraTpos /mov, while Mark xiii. 25 has 
7] ftaaikzia rod (daov ; and Matt. xxvi. 39, 42, irarzp /nov, while 
Mark xiv. 36 has 'A/3/3a 6 irariqp. 

Even where the term Son of God is used it has no such 
meaning as has been given to it in later times. In Matt. 
v. 9, 45 and Luke vi. 35 the " sons of God" are spoken of in a 
metaphorical sense; and in Hos. xi. 1, andExod. iv. 22, Israel, 
and in 2 Sam.vii. 14, and Ps. ii. 7 (conf. Ps. lxxix. 27) kings, 
are called sons and first-born of God. Angels and men are also 
called sons of God in Gen. vii. 2, Job i. 6, ii. 1, Hos. i. 16, Luke 
xx. 36, and Gal. iii. 26. It was a generic title, like that of 
Christ, which is applied to the heathen king Cyrus in Isa. xlv. 1, 
and to the whole Jewish nation in Ps. cv. 15, twn b*t UH"n 
Vk •'iTHbl TPTO2, M?) ayfrrjads rcbv Xpio-Twu jjlov, kclI kv rots 
TTpofyrjTdLs fAov jXT) 7rovr]psvsa6s (LXX.), " Touch not my Clirists, 
and do my prophets no harm " (Conf. 1 Chron. xvi. 22). The 
following is the teaching of the Koran, which inculcates the 
primitive belief in the unity of God, on this subject. It must 
be remembered that the Mohammedans believe Jesus to have 
been the "Word of God," and the " Spirit of God," but that 
they do not believe that either he or their own prophet was 
the Son of God in the sense in which that term is generally 
used. They believe that Christ re-established the worship of 

o 2 



196 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

the Unity of the Godhead (upon which Jewish theologians 
had begun to make inroads), and that the doctrine of the 
Trinity "crept into Christianity after the time of the apostles. 
The Koran says : — 

"After the prophets we sent Jesus to establish the Pen- 
tateuch; we gave him the Gospel, which is the torch of faith, 
and which sets a seal on the ancient writings. The Christians 
will be judged according to the Gospel. The faithful, the 
Jews, and the Sabseans, who believe in God, and who have 
led virtuous lives, shall not be tormented ; the same will be 
the case with a small number of Christians ; but those who 
say that the son of Mary is God a,re impious men. They 
who maintain the doctrine of the Trinity are blasphemous ; 
there is but one God." 

Sir W. Jones (Diss. VI. on the Persians) says, " The 
primeval religion of Iran, if we may rely on the authorities 
adduced by Monsani Faru, was that which ISTewton calls the 
oldest (and it may justly be called the noblest) of all reli- 
gions ; a firm belief that 6 one supreme God made the world 
by his power, and continually governed it by his providence ; 
a pious fear, love, and adoration of him ; and due reverence 
for parents and aged persons ; a fraternal affection for the 
whole human species ; and a compassionate tenderness even 
for the brute creation.' " 

Augustine, who had been a Manichsean, makes Faustus 
admit the Triune God most clearly in the following words: — 
" Igitur nos Patris quidem Dei omnipotentis, et Christi 
Filii ejus, et Spiritus Sancti, unum idemque sub triplici 
appellatur colimus numen." " We therefore worship one 
and the same Deity under the triple appellation of the 
Father, the Almighty God, and of Christ his Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost." The Manichseans therefore were Trini- 
tarians, and the only important heretical opinion which they 
held was directed against the supremacy of the Holy See. 
1 1 was not till the latter end of the second century that the 
word Trinity was made use of by Theophilus, the bishop of 
Antioch. Christianity had been introduced into France in 
a.d. 250, yet Gregory of Tours (Hist. 1. IX., c. 39) attributes 
the introduction of this dogma into that country to St. 
Martin, who lived as late as the middle of the fourth century, 
for he says, " He it was who caused the first germs of our 
venerable faith to burst forth, for the ineffable mysteries of 



BELIEF OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 197 

the Trinity were at that time known only to a very small 
number of persons." 

In the Shepherd of Hernias, which was composed by Her- 
nias, the brother of Pius I. (a.d. 142), and which was consi- 
dered to be divinely inspired by Irenseus and Origen, it is 
laid down that the Son, anterior to the creation, was not 
Christ, but the Holy Spirit (III. Hennas, Siniil. v. 54), that 
is a kind of archangel, but not the Holy Ghost. Jesus was 
the servant of this being, and owed it to his more than per- 
fect obedience that he was invested with his dignity and 
prerogatives. In the Clementine Homilies, which belong to 
the middle of the second century, Jesus is represented as the 
original man who appeared as the prophet of the truth in 
Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Moses succes- 
sively, and finally in Christ ; and the author speaks in terms 
of reprobation of those who should apply to Jesus the name 
of God. Justin (Dial, cum Tryph.), and Lactantius (1. ii. c. 
8 and 1. iv. c. 16), who lived in the time of Constantine, 
looked upon Jesus as a person sent by God to teach men. 
They held that there was but one God, Jehovah; that the 
faithfulness of Christ was rewarded by God, who invested 
him with the dignity of Priest for ever, with the honours of 
Supreme King, and the power of Judge; that Jesus had 
preserved the name of God ; and that it was by this name 
that the ancient Fathers of the Church agree in saying that 
he performed his miracles. The meaning of this is, that 
the word Jehovah when read with points is multiplied by 
the Jewish doctors into 12, 42, and 72 letters, of which 
words are composed that are thought to possess miraculous 
powers. Ey them Moses slew the Egyptians, Israel was 
preserved from the destroying angel of the wilderness, Elijah 
separated the waters of the river to open a passage for him- 
self and Elisha, <fec. In the Masonic mummeries the search 
after the sacred word pronounced by Jesus is still kept up. 
The Talmud will not admit that the ineffable word is Jehovah, 
or even Adonai, but says it is Sem Hamphorasch, from 
which the compilers of the French masonic rite called it 
Sem-Hame-Phoras, which signifies " the name well pro- 
nounced." 

The General Epistle of James, which is omitted by Origen 
in his catalogue of the canonical writings, and admitted by 
Euscbius to be considered spurious, and which, by its being 



193 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

addressed to " the twelve tribes wliicli are scattered abroad," 
seems to refer to the final dispersion of the Jews under 
Vespasian, can only be considered as embodying the views 
of that party which was opposed to the Pauline teaching. 
This it does in very express terms : " What doth it profit, my 
brethren, though a man say that he hath faith, and have not 
works? Can faith save him.? " (ii. 14, see also vv. 17, 18). 
In the Judgeo-Christian literature however, Peter, not James, 
is represented as the antagonist of Paul. There is an allusion 
to this antagonism in Gal. ii. 7, 8, but it is there represented 
merely as the result of the differences which arose respecting 
circumcision. It is generally supposed that in this epistle Paul 
speaks of having abode with Peter fifteen days (i. 18). But the 
original reading in the principal MSS. is " to acquaint myself 
with Cephas." This Cephas, whom Paul reprehended at 
Antioch (Gal. ii. 11), was, as appears from the catalogue of 
Dorotheus, one of the seventy disciples, and not one of the 
apostles, and was bishop of Caunia, inCaria. Yet in this epistle, 
which purports to be written by Paul himself, we have the ex- 
traordinary blunder made of calling him one of the apostles 
(v. 19). That be was not one of them is certain, and Eusebius 
distinctly states (H. E. I., ~\ 2) that he was not, for he says, 
" Clemens, in the fifth of his Hypoty poses, or Institutions, 
in which he also mentions Cephas, of whom Paul also says 
that he came to Antioch, and that he 'withstood him to his 
face' — says that one who had the same name with Peter was 
one of the seventy." Clemens Alexandrinus also says that 
Cephas and Peter were two distinct persons. The Precog- 
nitions, the three first chapters of which are believed to be 
the " Preaching of Peter " mentioned by Clemens Alexan- 
drinus, Eusebius, and others, in a revised form, and the 
Clementine Homilies, from which the following discussion 
between Peter and Paul is taken, are therefore correct in 
representing the antagonism between Peter and Paul as being 
between rival teachers, not fellow-apostles, though we must 
suppose Peter to be a representative name in this instance, 
as Simon avowedly is for Paul. 

Simon (that is, Paul) says to Peter (Clem. Homil. xvii. 13, 
19), "Thou boastest that thou hast thoroughly understood 
thy Master, because thou hast seen and heard him, and thou 
hast added that no one can arrive at the same result by 
means of visions. I am going to demonstrate to thee that 






DIALOGUE BETWEEN UETER AND PAUL. 199 

tliis is not the case. He who converses with any one is not 
on that account completely convinced by his words : he 
ought to ask himself whether he who appears to be a man 
does not lie. But a vision gives of itself to him who beholds 
it the assurance that it is divine." 

Peter answers, " Thou pretendest that one attains to a 
better understanding of things by means of visions than by 
direct communication, and that thou art better informed 
than I am of all that regards Jesus. But a prophet, by the 
mere fact of his being a prophet, and of its being known 
beforehand that he proclaims the truth, may be believed in 
with confidence ; he replies to all questions that may be put 
to him. On the contrary, he who puts faith in visions or in 
dreams, remains in uncertainty, for he does not know what 
he believes in ; in fact, it might be a demon, or a deceiving 
spirit, who pretended to be that which he was not. In any 
case, the being with whom one holds communication in this 
manner does not remain longer than he wishes, and he dis- 
appears like a flash of lightning without giving to him who 
interrogates him the answer he wishes for. Besides, it is 
not possible daring sleep to investigate the things we would 
wish to ; the thoughts of the sleeper are not in his power." 

After distinguishing between true and false visions, and 
showing by examples from Scripture that the first have no 
value, and that the second are only sent to the wicked, Peter 
continues : — 

" If, therefore, our Jesus has appeared to thee also, and 
has spoken to thee in a vision, he has only manifested him- 
self to thee by these visions, these dreams, or even by these 
external revelations, as he would to an adversary with whom 
he was justly angry. Can any one, however, be rendered 
capable of teaching by means of visions ? If thou say est 
that he can, how is it that the Master continued for a whole 
year in constant communication with people who were wide 
awake ? Besides, why should we believe thee when thou 
pretendest that he manifested himself to thee ? How can 
Jesus have appeared to thee, since thy opinions are contrary 
to his teaching ? If, after having been visited and instructed 
by him for an hour, thou hast really been made an apostle, in 
that case do thou preach his doctrine, explain his word, love 
his apostles, and cease to contend against me, his faithful 
companion. Bat although I am the solid stone, and the 



200 GOSPEL IIISTOKY. 

foundation of the Church, thou hast openly resisted rue. If 
thou wert not an enemy, wouldst thou have calumniated me, 
and despised my preaching ? Wouldst thou have been the 
cause that some refuse to believe in me when I repeat what 
I have heard said by the Lord himself, and that I am blamed 
when I ought to be praised ? In saying that I am to be 
blamed, thou accusest God Himself, who has revealed Jesus 
Christ to me, and thou attackest him who has called me 
happy on account of this revelation. If thou desirest to 
co-operate really and sincerely in the work of truth, begin 
by learning from us what he himself has taught us, and 
render us thy aid by becoming a disciple of the truth." 

We are not told whether the hardened apostle of the 
Gentiles was converted hj this address, but it is evident that 
the doctrine taught by him was considered to be diametri- 
cally opposed to that taught in the gospels. This, in fact, 
is plain from the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, 
where Paul says expressly that the gospel he preached was 
" not after man " ; and he adds, that he " neither received 
of man, nor was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus 
Christ." He claims the priority for his own gospel (vv. 6-9), 
and is so confident that it is the true one that he would not 
go to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before him, nor 
confer with flesh and blood, but went straightway, euOear, 
into Arabia (why we are not told) , and never saw any of the 
apostles for three years after his conversion. He does not, 
however, speak of any miraculous conversions, such as those 
recorded in the Acts (for there are no fewer than three 
accounts of it in that work which differ from one another in 
many particulars), but merely says that it pleased God to 
reveal His Son in him. 

The Acts contradict the Epistle to the Galatians in every 
possible respect. So far from not conferring with flesh and 
blood and retiring to Arabia, Paul remains certain days at 
Damascus "with the disciples " after his conversion (Acts ix. 
19), and immediately (sudsoos) preaches Christ in the syna- 
gogues, no doubt in accordance with the instructions he had 
received from the disciples, and when, " after many days," 
he comes to Jerusalem (v. 23), instead of seeing " James, the 
Lord's brother," we are told that all the disciples were afraid 
of him, and when they became reconciled to him, (i he was 
with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem," and 



CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN THE ACTS AXD EPISTLES. 201 

" disputed against the Grecians," though in Gal. i. 32 he 
aays that he was " unknown by face unto the Churches of 
Judaea." 

The Acts of the Apostles are the only authority for saying 
that Paul was a Roman citizen and a native of Tarsus. 
Lucian, however, in his dialogue entitled " Philopatris," 
speaks of him as a Galilsean with a bald forehead and a 
crooked nose, who pretended that he had been raised to the 
third heaven, and describes his followers as a set of tatterde- 
malions, almost naked, with fierce looks, and the gait of 
madmen, who predicted a thousand misfortunes to the em- 
pire, and cursed the Emperor. The Acts of Paul and Thecla, 
which were held to be genuine by the primitive Christians 
and many of the Fathers, and which Baronius and others 
consider as belonging to a very early period, confirm this 
description, for it is said in them that Onesiphorus and his 
family, having waited for him at Lystra, at length " saw a 
man coming (namely Paul), of a low stature, bald on the 
head, crooked though handsome legs, hollow-eyed, and who 
had a crooked nose." (Paul and Thecla, i. 7.) Similar de- 
scriptions of him are given in the epistles attributed to him, 
such as 2 Cor. v. 13 ; x. 10 ; xii. 7. The assertion of Lucian 
that he. was a Galilsean is not only probable in itself, but is 
confirmed by a passage in Gittin 34 b , which speaks of the 
practice of having two names, one in Judah, and the other 
in Galilee (which for the Jews was a coirntry which might 
be called semi-heathen, as so many foreigners lived in it), as 
well-known. These names, which Zenz (JSTamen der Juden 
S. 27 ff.) says were added to the Jewish names after the 
period of the Chaldsean and Persian supremacy, were always 
choseu on account of some resemblance in sound to the 
Jewish ones — as, for example, Jose-Jason. The same is the 
case in modern times — e.g., Mose-Moritz, Ger son- Gust av, 
&c. — the foreign name remaining unaltered. 

It is impossible to reconcile the statements in the Acts 
respecting Paul's conversion, &c. with those in the Galatians, 
but the mode in which they arose will be explained presently. 
Paul's own statement (Gal. i. 10) is that, like Jeremiah, he 
was " separated " from his mother's womb, and having thus 
been specially selected for some great purpose, it pleased 
God to reveal His Son in him. As Peter is represented as 
observing in the Clementine Homilies, we have only PaulV 



202 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

word for this " revelation " having been made to him ; but 
as not only in this passage, but also in 2 Cor. xii. 1, he speaks 
of visions and revelations, oTrraalas /cal airotcaXv^rsis, as having 
been made to him, it may be as well to consider what mean- 
ing was really attached to these words by educated men. 

The highest aim of man was held to be the knowledge of 
God — that is, of truth — and especially of truth concerning 
God. The Yalentinians called initiation " light." The en- 
joyment of this light was the most valuable result of epopty 
(sTTOTTTsta). Psellus (Ad Orac. Zoroast.) says that epopty 
was attained when the initiated person was allowed to behold 
the Divine Light. One of the precepts given by Zoroaster 
to the Archimagi was to obtain manifestations of the 
" Divine glory." Porphyry says that the Gnostics boasted 
that they had revelations or Apocalypses from Zoroaster. 
Er of Pamphylia, whom Plato speaks of in his Eepublic, and 
to whom the destiny of souls after death was revealed, is, 
according to some, no other than Zoroaster himself. Clemens 
Alexandrinus (Protrept. p. 74), imitating the language of a 
person who had been initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, 
and inviting this initiated person, whom he calls a blind 
man, like Tiresias, to come and enjoy the vision of Christ 
which is about to shine before his eyes with more dazzling 
brightness than the sun, exclaims, " truly holy mysteries ! 
pure light ! By the light of the torch of the torch-bearer 
the heavens and the Deity appear to me in this epopty. I 
am initiated ; I have become holy." " The Lord," continues 
Clemens, " acts as hierophant in these mysteries. He marks 
with his seal the initiated person whom he has illumined 
with his light, and to reward his faith he recommends him 
to his Father as a precious treasure which he is to keep for 
ever. These are my mysteries and my orgies. Become ini- 
tiated, and you will form with the angels the retinue of that 
God who has never been born, and who will never die — the 
only true God." The initiated person who had attained to 
the epopty was a seer — that is, a person who sees or beholds. 
Eusebius (Prsep. Evang.) explains the wordHeber (Hebrew) 
to mean " him who passes beyond," and says that it was 
given to those whose religious philosophy or knowledge 
passed beyond the limits of the visible world, and obtained 
access into the spiritual world, and into the Divine Light in 
which the invisible and hidden beings reside. An Israelite 






NATURE OF REVELATION. 203 

also was a seer (Isid. Orig., Firm, de Error. Prof. Eel.) Philo 
says that Israel is a Chaldee word, and signifies " the seeing 
nation." Those who were initiated into the higher mysteries 
were therefore called epopts, or seers, or beholders, while 
those who had only been admitted to the lesser mysteries 
were called " initiated," like the Catechumens of Christian 
initiation. A period varying from one to five years was 
required to elapse between the initiatory ceremony and the 
epopty. 

Eeligion and philosophy united with abstinence were held 
to free the soul from the corruptions of matter, and to render 
it fit to hold intercourse with spiritual beings, for it was said 
that that which was impure must not come into contact with 
that which was pure. In proportion as it was necessary 
that the soul should be adorned by knowledge and by virtue 
so as to be able to unite itself with immortal beings, it was 
also necessary that the Ochema or luminous medium should 
be pure, and detached from matter, so that it might hold 
communication with ethereal beings. Augustine (De Civ. 
Dei, 1. x. c. 9) follows Porphyry in speaking of the effect 
produced upon what he terms the animal portion of the soul 
by the theurgic operations called teletes, which rendered it 
fit to communicate with spirits and with angels, and to be- 
come capable of beholding the gods. 

It is evident from Paul's reference to the Sibyl that he 
was well acquainted with the prevalent systems, and it has 
been thought that he was an epopt in the Christian myste- 
ries, which were founded on the Pagan ones. The words in 
the epistle, however, do not imply anything more than an 
ordinary conversion, probably brought about by the study of 
the same books which converted Constantine, but the follow- 
ing considerations seem to show that the practice of 
assigning to persons of celebrity books they had never 
written, which was Tery common in ancient times, as Origen 
(Contra Cels.) informs us, and which was frequently done 
without waiting for the death of the supposed author, has 
been adopted with respect to the Pauline epistles. This was 
especially the practice among the Jews, who have composed 
books which they attribute to almost all the persons in 
Genesis. Thus we have a Gospel of Eve, a Testament of 
Adam, a book by Seth on the star which is to announce the 
coming of the Messiah, prophecies by Enoch and Ham, a 



204 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Testament of Noah, Psalms by Melcliizedek and Isaac, a 
Prayer by Joseph, &c. In early Christian times, when any 
particular doctrine was wished to be established, books 
were fabricated which, under the imposing names of Peter, 
Matthew, Dionysius the Areopagite, &c, came to be regarded 
as of authority. 

Paul, we are told, was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel 
(Acts xxii. 3), and was taught according to the perfect 
manner of the law of the fathers ; and in c. xxvii. 5 he 
is represented as saying himself that " after the most 
straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." Yet out 
of the eighty-four quotations from the Old Testament in the 
Pauline epistles thirty-four are taken from the LXX., thirty- 
six differ from it to some extent, and ten differ from it to a 
considerable extent. This, however, was the version which, 
as we have seen, the orthodox Jews had the greatest horror 
of ; and they used to call out on the day of mourning for it, 
" The king compelled me to write the law in Greek ; plough- 
ing the field on my back, they made long furrows." It is 
evident that in the epistles as in the gospels these versions 
are used to suit the purpose of the writer. Thus, in 
Rom. ix. 17 the Hebrew text is followed in "Even for this 
purpose have I raised thee up;" the LXX. having "Evsiav 
iovtov BL£T7]fj)'j6r]9, " On this account hast thou been pre- 
served." In 1 Cor. x. 8 the number of Israelites who fell 
is put at twenty-three thousand, thus differing from both 
the Hebrew and the LXX., which both have twenty-four 
thousand. In Rom. xi. 8 the passage referred to (Isaiah 
xxix. 10) has been completely altered, while the quotation 
from Psalm lxix. in the next verse is taken partly from 
the LXX. and partly from the Hebrew. Gal. iii. 11, "The 
just shall live by faith," is in the LXX. 'O hs hl<aio$ i/c 
ttlcttscos fjbov fyjcrsrai, " But the just shall live by my faith." 
The next quotation, however (v. 13), is from the LXX., be- 
cause the words sirl %v\ov, "on a tree," are not in the 
Hebrew version. 

In Gal. iii. 17 the statement in the LXX. version of 
Exod. xii., 40, that the children of Israel dwelt four hun- 
dred and thirty years in Canaan and Egypt, is adopted. 
This does not agree with Gen. xv. 13, in which God tells 
them that the period during which they should be afflicted 
in a foreign land is four hundred years, which again is itself 



THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 205 

contradicted by the subsequent history ; for as Joseph was 
only thirty-nine years old when the descent into Egypt took 
place, the Israelites must have been protected by the 
Pharaohs for at least seventy years of that period, and pro- 
bably much longer, thus reducing the actual period of 
servitude to about three hundred years. The LXX. in 
endeavouring to reconcile the contradictions and incon- 
gruities in the narrative have reduced it to 215 years, thus 
contradicting God's own words ; but it is evident from the 
narrative in Exodus that the oppression of the Israelites is 
supposed to have begun not long before the birth of Moses, 
who was eighty years of age at the time of the Exodus. 
This would make the total period of oppression to be some 
hundred years or so, and makes all the statements in both 
versions hopelessly wrong. When it is added that Moses is 
the grandson of Levi (who accompanied Jacob to Egypt) 
through his mother Jochebed, it becomes evident that Ave 
have here to do with an unhistorical statement which the 
" inspired" apostle nevertheless adopts as true. 

The Acts of the Apostles had not gained general accept- 
ance as late as a.d. 407 ; for Chrysostom, who was Bishop of 
Constantinople at that time, says in his first homily on the 
title and beginning of this work, " To many this book is 
unknown ; by others it is despised, because it is clear and 
easy." The first of his homilies upon the whole book begins 
with the following sentence : — " By many this book is not at 
all known, neither the book itself, nor who wrote it and put 
it together." This book, the title of which in the Codex 
Sinaiticus is simply "Acts," has been shown by modern 
critics — such as Baur, Schwegler, and Zeller — to be the 
work of a Pauline Christian, who, in order to conciliate the 
two hostile Christian parties, endeavoured to make Paul re- 
semble Peter and Peter resemble Paul as much as possible. 
This is shown by the contents of the book. Peter, the 
apostle of the Circumcision, is represented in it as inaugu- 
rating the mission to the Gentiles, and as embracing the 
most liberal Pauline views. He even speaks of faith and 
grace (Acts xv. 7, 11), and says that circumcision was a yoke 
too hard to be borne. The Clementine Homilies, on the 
contrary, say (ii. 17) — "If Peter travels all over the world, 
it is in pursuit of his rival, represented by Simon : if he 
preaches the doctrine of Jesus, it is by combating in all his 



206 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

discourses the false gospel of the impostor." In another 
place it is said, "If he (Peter) calls upon the Pagans to take 
part in the Messianic kingdom, it is by imposing upon them 
the observances to which Judaism subjects its proselytes, 
and by proclaiming with the true prophet that the law will 
last for ever." Baur has well described the two parties as 
follows : — " According to the Judseo-Christians, it was neces- 
sary to be a Jew first, and then a Christian; according to 
Paul, it was necessary to renounce Judaism in order to 
become a Christian." 



REDEMPTION AN ANCIENT BELIEF. 207 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

With the final victory of Adrian over Barchocab and his 
followers in a.d. 135, during whose revolt the Judeeo- 
Christians had established themselves at Pella, and with the 
appointment of uncircurncised bishops at Jerusalem, the 
Pauline teaching' gained the ascendant ; and those who held 
the opposite opinions retired to Pergea, and established them- 
selves there. Although the term Pauline is applied to the 
doctrines taught in the Epistles, it is a mistake to suppose 
that they are of Christian origin. Philo taught before any 
Christian work was in existence that not even our best works 
are acceptable to God ; but that faith in a Eedeemer, who 
is the Word, and who is also a ransom for sin, is the first 
requisite, the next being repentance through faith, and good 
works as the result of that repentance. The priest of 
Mithra, as Tertullian (De prescript. Ha?r., 1. xl.) informs us, 
used to promise the initiated person whom he had dipped 
in the water that all the stains of guilt would be effaced by 
that act. Socrates has described the unjust man who con- 
siders himself safe against the punishments of Tartarus, 
because he knows how to escape from them by means of 
initiation. Plutarch, in his answer to the Epicureans, also 
says that true believers know that they can be delivered from 
the pains of hell by lustrations and initiations, by means of 
which men attain to the abodes of happiness. Not only 
private individuals, but whole towns were allowed to offer 
expiatory sacrifices ; and the priests used to beg at the doors 
of the great and the rich, and engage to deliver them from 
the wrath of the gods by means of certain sacrifices and 
enchantments. Theophrastus (Caract.) describes one of these 
superstitious people, who, he says, never fails to go every 
month to the Orpheotelestai to get purified, taking his wife 
and children with him. 

Most of the Fathers represent the death of Christ as a 



208 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

ransom paid to the devil, who is our legitimate owner, and 
to whom Christ, in order to get men awaj from him, is 
obliged to pay an equivalent-. Augustine says, " Parvulus 
trahit peccatum originate ab Adam," and u Deus prsedestinat 
ad seternam mortem propter originate peccatum." Jerome 
enquires^ " Quare infantuli baptizantur ? " and answers, "Ut 
eis peccata dimittantur." In another place Augustine says, 
" RTon est ulli ullus medius locus ut possit esse nisi cum 
diabolo qui non est cum Christo," because " certum est apud 
orthodoxos, pueros decedentes in originali peccato sine 
baptismo descendere in locum quemdam infernum et subter- 
raneum qui nominatur Limbus " — all little children who are 
not baptized go to limbo. In his letter to Jerome he says 
that even newborn infants cannot escape eternal damnation 
except by being baptized. Yet in this same letter he asks 
continually why God should inflict so dreadful a calamity 
upon innocent children — " Tantum ergo malorum, quse fiant 
in parvulis, causa dicatur." He concludes, however (De 
peccatorum meritis et remiss.), that they would not be 
damned if they had not sinned : " "Non autem damnari 
possent si peccatum ubique non haberent ; " and he says in 
this same treatise that it is impossible for God to damn 
anyone unjustly : " Nee Divino judicio injuste posse aliquem 
damnari." He ends by saying that as it is impossible they 
can have sinned before they attained the age of reason, they 
must have inherited the sin of Adam by the mere fact of their 
being born, and that it is this sin of Adam which renders the 
whole human race liable to damnation, and explains this 
statement by saying that all the souls of men have been, as 
he expresses it, one in Adam — " Omnes illse unus homo 
fuerunt " — and that they are all derived from the sinful 
substance of his soul, like branches which grow from a 
single diseased stem, sin being transmitted to children by 
the vice of their birth, in the same way as the sap is trans- 
mitted from the trunk into all the branches of a tree ! 

In a.d. 418 the General Council of Africa excommunicated 
all who refused to believe that grace is neither an effect of 
divine mercy which grants us pardon for our sins, nor a 
celestial inspiration which makes us love what is good, nor 
something sent us from on high to aid us to act rightly; 
but .an act of God which is really performed within us, in 
eon sequence of which we do good, or rather which renders 



PHILO'S DOCTRIXE OF THE LOGOS. 209 

it impossible for us not to do good. This is somewhat 
different from Prov. xvii, 15 : " He that justifieth the wicked 
and he that condemneth the just, even they are both an 
abomination unto the Lord " ; but it is in accordance with 
the teaching of Philo, who says (De Morte Abeli et Caini) : 
" The just man is the expiatory victim of the wicked man." 
Philo has even invested his goddess, Grace, with personal 
existence. " Grace," he says, " is that celestial virgin who 
serves as mediatrix between God and the soul — between God 
who offers and the soul which receives. All the written law 
is but a symbol of grace." He speaks of the Word as the 
" image of God," and " the shepherd of his holy flock." In 
his treatise on Creation he speaks of the Word as superior 
to the angels and to all created beings, and says that man 
stands in need of redemption, and that the soul must obtain 
its freedom by a ransom and price of redemption being given 
for it. It pleased God, therefore, to appoint his Logos to 
be a medium or intercessor between the Creator and the 
created, and he is accordingly the advocate for all mortals. 
The Word of God, being the image of God, is seated imme- 
diately next to the one God, without any interval of separa- 
tion. Philo calls the Word the High Priest, the Holy 
Word, the firstborn of God. He also lays it down (De 
Serm.) that "we must by no means think that we of our- 
selves are able without the grace of God to wash and 
cleanse our mortal frame from the stains with which it 
abounds." 

The opposition between the two schools of doctrine is 
shown plainly in the fact that while in the Gospels Jesus is 
never represented as using the word " sacrifice " with refer- 
ence to either his life or his death, this word is so used in 
the Epistles repeatedly. It is impossible, however, to find 
language directed more plainly against the ideas of sacrifice 
and atonement than is to be found in the very prophets 
who are supposed to have predicted the coming of the 
Messiah. Thus Micah (vi. 7, 8) says, " Will the Lord be 
pleased with thousands of rams or with thousands of rivers 
of oil ? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the 
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? He hath shewed 
thee, man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require 
of thee but to do justly, to have mercy, and to walk humbly 
with thy God?"' 

p 



210 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Unfortunately the Reformation has brought the Pauline 
doctrines into greater prominence than before. Luther 
declared against Melancthon that good works were mortal 
sins, and this declaration was approved by the Diet of 
Worms. Calvin declared that God pays no attention to 
good works; and the Church of England lays it down in her 
Articles of Faith that works done before the grace of Christ 
are not only not pleasant to God, but have the nature of sin. 
In a,d. 1618 the Calvinist synod went so far as to say that 
morality had nothing to do with justification ; and this 
teaching culminates in the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
in which it is said that God has chosen those of mankind 
that are predestinated unto life before the foundation of the 
world was laid, " without any foresight of faith or good works, 
or perseverance in either of them," and that the rest of man- 
kind God was pleased " to pass by, and to ordain them to 
dishonour and wrath for their sins, to the praise of his 
glorious justice." 

These doctrines would never have prevailed had there not 
been something in them which was acceptable to the mass 
of mankind. Nature has implanted in the heart of man 
principles which he cannot deviate from without feeling 
remorse and pain, but these natural feelings are obliterated 
when plenary absolution is held forth as the result of re- 
pentance, or of confession to a priest. So dangerous to 
morality were these doctrines considered to be by those who 
had the control over the ancient initiations that certain 
crimes were declared to be incapable of expiation. Nero 
(Sueton. Yit. Neron., c. 34) dared not present himself at the 
Temple of Eleusis ; his crimes were too great to allow him 
even to enter it. The Pythoness of Delphi also heaped re- 
proaches on him, and compared him to Orestes the matricide. 
This, however, was too much for Nero. He caused several 
persons to be put to death, and let their blood flow into the 
opening of the sacred cave, after which he had it filled up. 
The blood-stained Constantine also vainly sought for abso- 
lution from the Pagan priests ; and David, the man after 
God's own heart, would probably have sought for it with 
just as little success. The expiatory ceremonies in Greece 
are, however, of comparatively recent date, for their institu- 
tion is recorded in the marbles of Paros (Marsham, Chronic. 
Ssecul., ii.). 



INITIATION ADOPTED BY THE CHURCH. 211 

This system was adopted by the Christians. Mosheim, 
speaking- of the Church in the second century, says, " It is 
here to be attentively observed that the form used in the 
exclusion of heinous offenders from the society of Christians 
was at first extremely simple, but was, however, impercep- 
tibly altered, enlarged by the addition of a vast multitude 
of rites, and new modelled according to the discipline used 
in the ancient mysteries." In another place he says, " The 
profound respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman 
mysteries, and the extraordinary sanctity that was attributed 
to them, induced the Christians (of the second century) to 
give their religion a mystic air, in order to put it upon an 
equal footing in point of dignity with that of the Pagans. 
For this purpose they gave the name of mysteries to the 
institutions of the Gospel, and decorated particularly the 
holy sacrament with that solemn title, They used in that 
sacred institution, as also in that of baptism, several of the 
terms employed in the heathen mysteries, and proceeded so 
far at length as even to adopt some of the rites and cere- 
monies of which those renowned mysteries consisted.' 5 

Photius quotes some fragments of John Stobaeus (who 
lived in the fifth century), in which, speaking of initiation 
into the Christian mysteries, he represents it as being the 
end of the profane life, and the death of vice. The neophyte 
who had reached the end of the profane life found at the 
gates of initiation nothing but fear, and obstacles which 
stood in the way of his painful and laborious progress ; but 
these toils once endured., celestial light shone before him; 
he beheld around him an enchanting prospect, and beautiful 
scenery ; choirs, accompanied by melodious instruments, 
struck pleasingly on his ears; sacred visions appeared to 
him ; he became initiated, he became one of the elect by his 
admission ; no longer the slave of fear, he was crowned, 
and triumphed. Then he was admitted to the sublime 
knowledge of the sacred doctrines (that is, of the reproduc- 
tion of beings, which was allegorically taught) of the Resur- 
rection. 

Minutius Felix says, " You observe that the philosophers 
have maintained precisely the same things as we Christians, 
but this is not on account of our having copied from them, 
but because they, from the divine teaching of the prophets, 
have imitated the shadow of truth interpolated ; thus the 

P 2 



212 GOSrEL HISTORY, 

more illustrious of their wise men, Pythagoras first, and 
especially Plato, with a corrupted and half-faith, have 
handed down the doctrine of regeneration." Tertullian 
(Apolog. c. 46, 47) calls the Pagan philosophers the thieves, 
the interpolators, and adulterators of divine truth, and says 
that " from a design of curiosity they put our doctrines in 
their works, not sufficiently believing them to be divine to be 
restrained from interpolating them, and that they mixed that 
which was uncertain with that which they found certain." 
Theodoret (Therap. 1. II.) says that Plato purposely mixed 
muddy and earthy filth with the pure fountain from which 
he drew the arguments of his theology. Eusebius says that 
the fable of Phaeton falling from the chariot of his father 
the Sun was a wicked corruption of the account in 2 Kings ii. 
of Elijah being taken up to heaven, the ancients being so 
ignorant as to confound Elias with Helios (the sun) ! Justin 
(Apol. 2) explains the matter in a most satisfactory manner. 
He says that " it having reached the Devil's ears that the 
prophets had foretold that Christ would come for the purpose 
of tormenting the wicked in fire, he set the heathen poets to 
bring forward a great many who should be called (and were 
called) sons of Jove : the devil laying his scheme in this to 
get them to imagine that the true history of Christ was of 
the same character as those prodigious fables and poetic 
stories." 

These and similar passages are attempted refutations of 
the charges brought by the Pagans against the Christians, 
such as that attributed to Csecilius by Minutius Felix in his 
Octavius (circa a.d. 211): "All these figments of crack- 
brained belief, and silly solaces, played off in the sweetness 
of song by deceitful poets, have been shamefully dressed up 
again by you over credulous creatures, and applied to your 
own God." Porphyry charged Origen with being a Pagan, 
brought up in the school of the Gentiles, who in order to 
serve his own ambitious purposes had contrived to turn the 
whole Pagan system into the new-fangled Christian theology. 
Celsus, in his treatise on the True Logos, charges the 
Christians with recoining the ancient doctrine of the Logos. 
The Emperor Julian (Apud Cyrill. 1. II.) tells them, "If 
any one should wish to know the truth with respect to you 
Christians, he will find your impiety to be made up partly of 
the Jewish audacity, and partly of the indifference and con- 



PERSECUTIONS OP THE PAGANS. 213 

fusion of the Gentiles, and that ye have put together, not 
the best, but the worst characteristics of them both." 

Middleton says in his Free Inquiry, " In the performance 
of their miracles the primitive Christians were always 
charged with fraud and imposture by their adversaries. 
Lucian tells us that when any crafty juggler, expert in his 
trade, and who knew how to make a right use of things, went 
over to the Christians, he was sure to grow rich immediately 
by making a prey of their simplicity ; and Celsus represents all 
the Christian wonder-workers as mere vagabonds and com- 
mon cheats, who rambled about to play their tricks at fairs 
and markets, not in the circles of the wiser and better sort 
(for among such they never ventured to appear) , but when- 
ever they observed a set of raw young fellows, slaves or 
fools, there they took care to intrude themselves and to dis- 
play their arts. 

Some idea of the means by which Christianity was propa- 
gated may be formed from the following oration delivered by 
Julius Firmicius Maternus to the Emperors Constantius and 
Constans, the sons and successors of Constantine the Great, 
calling upon them to seize all the property of the Pagan 
priesthood which their father had spared : " Take away, take 
away, in perfect security, O most holy emperors, take away 
all the ornaments of their temples. Let the fire of the mint, 
or the flames of the mines, melt down their gods. Seize upon 
all their wealthy endowments, and turn them to your own use 
and property. And, most sacred emperors, it is absolutely 
necessary for you to revenge and punish this evil. You are 
commanded by the law of the Most High God to persecute all 
sorts of idolatiy with the utmost severity : hear and commend 
to your own sacred understandings what God himself com- 
mands. He commands you not to spare your son, or your 
brother ; he bids you plunge the avenging knife even into 
the heart of the wife that sleeps in your bosom ; to persecute 
your dearest friend with a sublime severity, and to arm your 
whole people against these sacrilegious Pagans, and tear 
them limb from limb. Yea ! even whole cities, if you should 
find this guilt in them, must be cut ofP. most holy em- 
perors ! God promises you the reward of his mercy upon 
condition of your thus acting. Do therefore what he com- 
mands — complete what he prescribes." This charitable 
recommendation was carried out in part by Gratian, who 



214 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

seized all the lands and endowments which had been set 
apart to maintain the priests and sacrifices of Paganism, 
and appropriated them to his own nse. In the reigns of 
Yalentinian and Theodosins any one who apostatised from 
Christianity was rendered incapable of bequeathing property 
by will, and the profession of Paganism was finally sup- 
pressed by condemning all who professed it to death, and 
thousands of Pagan martyrs underwent that penalty. Theo- 
dosius carried out the advice of Julius Firmicius to the letter 
by putting the whole of the heterodox citizens of Thessalonica 
to the sword, and utterly destroying everything that breathed. 
On the other hand, Syrnmachus, a Pagan high priest, ven- 
tured to present the following petition, for which he was 
condemned by Theodosius to go into exile : — 

" Does not the religion of the Romans come under the 
protection of the Eoman laws ? By what name shall we call 
an alienation of rights which no laws or circumstances of 
things ever justified ? Freed men receive legacies, nor are 
even slaves deprived of the privilege of receiving what is left 
to them by will ; it is only the noble vestals, and the at- 
tendants on the sacred rites upon which the public welfare 
depends, who are deprived of the privilege of receiving 
estates legally bequeathed to them. The Treasury detains 
the lands which were given to the vestals and their officers 
by our dying progenitors. Do but consult your own generous 
minds, and you will not think that those things belong to 
the public which you have already appropriated to the use 
of others. If length of time be of weight in matters of 
religion, surely we ought to preserve that faith which has 
subsisted for so many ages, and to follow our parents, who 
have so happily followed theirs, We ask for no other state 
of religion than that which secured the empire to your 
blessed father, and gave him the happiness of a legitimate 
issue to succeed him. That blessed prince now looks 
down from heaven, and beholds the tears of the priests, and 
considers the breach of their privileges as a reflection on 
himself/' 

In their anxiety to prove that everything was of Jewish or 
Christian origin, the Fathers have endeavoured to show that 
Pythagoras was a Jew, and was a disciple of Ezekiel, and 
that he, as well as Plato and others, had learned the doctrine 
of the true God from the Jews ! 



EGYPTIAN DOCTRINAL TEACHING. 215 

The Jews themselves said that Pythagoras had travelled in 
Judsea, and that he had been initiated into the sect of the 
Essenes. Ammonius, Jainblichus, and Plotinus consider the 
birth of Pythagoras to have been supernatural, and compare 
it to that of Jesus. They say that he was the son of Apollo ; 
that an oracle had proclaimed his nativity ; that the soul of 
God had come down to earth to give him life ; that he was 
the Mediator between God and man ; that he knew what 
passed in the Universe ; that he commanded the elements, 
preached the loftiest virtue to men, and was at last slain like 
Jesus by ferocious assassins. Constantine (Orat. c. 9) in his 
oration to the clergy, says, with a marvellous disregard of 
chronology, that Pythagoras was an impostor, for " he deli- 
vered those things which the prophets had foretold to the 
Romans as if God had particularly revealed them to him." 
Lactantius however (Divin. Inst., 1. IY., c. 2) admits that all 
these statements are erroneous, for he expresses his wonder 
" that when Pythagoras, and afterwards Plato, incited by the 
love of seeking truth, had travelled as far as to the Egyptians, 
the Magi, and the Persians, to learn the rites and ceremonies 
of those nations, they should never have consulted the Jews, 
with whom alone the true wisdom was to be found, and to 
whom they might have gone more readily." 

In 1682 the Carmelites of Beziers maintained in public 
theses that Pythagoras had been a monk and a member of 
their order. The fact is, all orders of this description were 
more or less connected. The historian of the Carmelites' 
(Hist. Carmel. Ordin., I., 4) calls the Druids " the holy 
Druids, the sons of Elias, our brothers and predecessors." 
In order to understand the nature of this connection w r e must 
remember that Pythagoras had been initiated in Egypt, and 
that the doctrine of one God in the double personality of the 
Father and the Son was taught both at Thebes and Mem- 
phis. On a pillar of the XlXth dynasty at Berlin the Supreme 
Being is called " God making himself God, existing by him- 
self, the double being, the Begetter from the beginning." 
The same idea is expressed respecting Ammon on a Theban 
papyrus : " The double Being, Begotten from the beginning, 
God making himself God, begetting himself." The special 
action attributed to the Son did not destroy the Unity. It 
is in this sense that this god is called Ua en Ua, the one of 
one, irpMTos rod rrpuTov (dsov, which is the mode in which the 



216 GOSPEL HISTOKY. 

second Divine Essence is expressed. This second God is 
the visible manifestation of the Invisible God. Sometimes 
this character is attributed to the sun, which creates living 
beings as the Father creates the ideal essences. On another 
pillar in the Berlin Museum, the sun is called " the firstborn, 
the Son of God, the Word," On one of the walls of the 
temple at Philge and on the door of the temple of Medinet 
Aboo is written " It is the sun who has made all that exists, 
and without him nothing has ever been made." The third 
god in the Hermetic books is man, who is analogous to 
Osiris, who is sometimes taken as the ideal type of humanity. 
In the Funeral Eitnal the soul which presents itself to be 
judged is called " Osiris such a one." 

Orpheus, who was one of the first sages who was allowed to 
borrow the principles of morals and theology from Egypt, 
says in his verses On the Orgyas (mysteries), "Consider the 
Aoyos or Divine Word : never cease to contemplate it. Direct 
your heart and mind in the right way, and look up to the 
Ruler of the Universe, who alone is immortal, and who alone 
has engendered from himself. All things proceed from Him 
alone, and He dwells in them. Invisible to all mortals, He 
nevertheless sees all that goes on." Eusebius (Prgep. Ev., 
1. xiii. 12) has handed down to us entire the hymn of Orpheus 
called the 'Palinode,' of which Justin, Clemens Alexan- 
drinus, Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria, and Theodoret have 
quoted certain portions. In this hymn Orpheus declares the 
unity of God, a dogma which is also recognised in the com- 
mencement of the invocation of the funeral ritual, which 
has been translated by Lepsius, and which the Egyptians 
used to deposit in the sarcophagi of all who died. When 
the soul had come into the presence of the supreme tribunal, 
where God himself sits surrounded by the forty-two celestial 
judges, it expresses itself in the following manner : — 

" O great God ! Lord of Truth I I have come to thee, 
Lord ! I have come myself to receive Thy favour. I know 
Thee. I know Thy name. I know the names of the forty- 
two deities who are seated with Thee at the tribunal of the 
two truths, which is instituted for the punishment of the 
wicked, who were brought up at a distance from it, on the day 
when an account must be given of all words that have been 
uttered in the presence of the good, the purified being, ruler 
of hearts, Lord of truth — that is Thy name ! " 

The metaphysical triad belonged to the later period of the 



SPECULATIONS OX THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 217 

teaching of Orpheus., and to the worshippers of light under 
the name of Phanes. Then the dogma of the Aoyos, or the 
Nouy, its incarnation, death and resurrection, or the trans- 
figuration of its union with matter, of its dispersion into the 
visible world, and of its return to the original Unity was 
taught, and all this theory related to the origin of the soul, 
and its destiny, that is, to the great aim of the mysteries, 
The philosophers, says Eusebius (Prsep. Ev., 1. III. c. 9), 
compared the Universe to a great man, and man himself to 
a small Universe. They saw in both the Universe and man a 
single being, but they thought that, without injury to the 
unity of that being-, they might draw a distinction between 
the principle of intellect and the principle of life and motion, 
and they held that in this respect man exactly resembled the 
Universe, or rather that man is only endowed with life and 
intelligence because the Universe, of which he forms a por- 
tion, and out of which he was made, is itself endowed with 
these qualities. Proclus (Comm. in Tim., 1. L, c. 123) says ? 
" The elements which enter into the composition of our 
bodies form a portion of those which exist in the universe 
on a large scale, It would be very strange if all that is 
lowest in our nature should exist in the universe, and what 
is most excellent and divine in it should not be found still 
more universally therein, and that as there is a universal 
elementary matter, there should not also be a universal in- 
tellect and soul." 

Virgil (iEn. vi.) represents Anchises as teaching this doc- 
trine of a universal spiritus, or life-giving breath, to which 
is joined a soul which regulates its movements, and maintains 
the harmony of the immense body throughout which it is 
spread. It was from this intellectual fire, as Orpheus de- 
clared it to be, that those souls endowed with reason had 
emanated, which at death returned to that other principle of 
fire endowed with reason of which the stars are formed. 
Eusebius (Prsep. Ev., 1. ix. c. 3) tells us that the Essenes 
among the Jews attributed this same origin to our souls, 
which they held to be an emanation from the ethereal fire. 
The spiritus was God, for the spiritus, or universal soul, 
was spoken of as God diffused throughout nature (ManiL 

i. ii.). 

The question which lies at the bottom of all speculations 
on the great question of man's destiny here and hereafter, 
and without which theology would be a mere mass of arid 



218 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

speculations, the origin of evil, did not fail to engage the 
attention of the philosophers. Maximns of Tyre (Orat. xxv.) 
ridicules Alexander, who went to consult the oracle of Jupi- 
ter Amnion to know where the sources of the Nile were situ- 
ated, and of wha^3 description they were. "Was nothing 
else wanting to complete the happiness of that king but to 
comprehend a natural phenomenon which was of so little 
consequence ? He should have asked Jupiter a question, the 
answer to which would have interested the whole human 
race. He need not, however, have inquired whence blessings 
come. There is no occasion to interrogate the gods on that 
subject. The cause of them cannot be unknown, and is 
patent to all mortals. The cause is the Father and the Crea- 
tor of all things. It is he who has instituted in the heavens 
that order which we see prevail there ; it is he who holds 
the reins of the sun and the moon ; who directs the course of 
the stars ; and who appoints to the brilliant chorus of the 
stars the movements they are to go through. It is he who 
has divided the seasons, who rules the winds, who has brought 
the seas together, and laid the foundations of the earth; who 
makes the rivers flow, and gives fertility to plants and ani- 
mals. It is that pure and immortal Spirit which can under- 
go no change, and which, with incredible swiftness, and in 
the twinkling of an eye {rayzi, cos irpo(r/3o\fj oijrecos), sets in 
motion, gives light to, and adorns all nature. I cannot 
explain how it brings so many marvels to pass, but Homer 
intimates it in these words, ( He spake, and the black-eyed 
daughter of Saturn (Nature) obeyed immediately.' At the 
first signal that Jupiter gave, the earth and all that it pro- 
duces were formed ; the sea and all that it contains in its 
abysses ; the air and all that it contains ; the heavens and all 
that moves therein. The will of Jupiter brought all these 
into existence in a moment. On this subject I require no 
oracle. I believe Homer on the subject ; I put faith in 
Plato; I pity Epicurus. But if I turn to contemplate evil 
I cannot help asking, what can be its origin ? Did it come 
from Ethiopia with the plague, or from Babylon with Xerxes, 
or from Macedonia with Philip ? For most assuredly it does 
not come from heaven. Envy is banished for ever from that 
abode of happiness. This is where I stand in need of an 
oracle ? Let us inquire of the gods." 

Arnobius (Adv. Gent. 1. II.) suggests that God must be 



THE EVIL PRINCIPLE AN INVENTION. 219 

the cause of evil, because nothing can happen without his 
permission. This appears io him to he incontestable, yet so 
dreadful are the consequences of this belief that he dares not 
adopt it. " Consider well what you are saying," he says as 
if replying to himself, "and let us take good care that we do 
not dishonour the majesty of the supreme God and Ruler 
while thinking to do him honour. Do ye ask why ? Because 
if all things are done by God's will, and if nothing can hap- 
pen except what he ordains, it follows that all evil is the 
effect or the result of his will. On the other hand, if we 
pretend to say that he is not the author of evil, and that evil 
exists without his sanction, will it not then appear either 
that it exists in spite of him, or that it exists without his 
knowing it? But it is impossible to say anything more ridi- 
culous. If again we run the risk, in order to avoid these 
results, of saying, as some have done, that evil is non-existent* 
all the world will cry out against such a dogma, and will 
call the unnumbered woes which the human species has 
suffered from to witness against us. Since, therefore, we are 
unable to deny that the world is full of evil, it will be asked 
' Why does not an Almighty God abolish it ? Why does he 
endure it? Why does he allow it to subsist throughout all 
time?' Then, if w T e are enlightened by God's Spirit, and if 
we do not wish to be led away by foolish and impious con- 
jectures, we shall be obliged to answer that it is better for 
us to remain in ignorance than to say that our will can do 
nothing without God's permission, for in that case it would 
be God who engendered the causes of evil, and who would be 
the creator of an infinite number of miseries." 

It is unquestionably the difficulty of reconciling the exist- 
ence of evil with the perfect nature attributed to God, which 
has led to the invention, through a religious motive, of a 
principle of evil. Plutarch (De Proc. Anim.) says expressly 
that the ancient philosophers who acknowledged a God and 
providence, only said " that evil was the produce of matter 
because they did not wish men to believe that God was the 
cause of it." Justin Martyr (Cohort, ad Gent.) also says that 
" Plato only taught that matter was self-existent in order to 
take away all pretext for saying that it made God to be the 
author of evil." Augustine (De Ord, 1. ii. 1) says that he 
does not know any doctrine more detestable than that which 
makes God to be the author of evil : " Deum malorum auc- 



220 GOSPEL HISTORY.. 

torem detestabilius nihil mini occurrit." And Plato (De Eep. 
1. ii.) says, " God is the only canse of good ; but as for evil, 
he cannot be the cause of that ; we must attribute that to 
anyone but to him." Hence it was that, as a learned modern 
author (Spenc. de Hirco Emis.) says, " The ancients, as Plu- 
tarch remarks, believed that there were two gods, who were 
opposed to each other, the first being the creator of good, 
the second of evil. They called the first God, and the 
second the Devil. The Egyptians called the good god Osiris, 
and the evil god T} T phon. The superstitious Jews gave these 
two principles the name of Gad and Meni, and the Persians 
those of Oromasdes and Ahriman. The Greeks had also 
their good and evil spirits, and the Eoinans had their Joves 
and Yejoves, that is their beneficent and maleficent deities. 
Astrologers represent the same idea by favourable or malig- 
nant signs or constellations; philosophers by contrary prin- 
ciples ; and the Pythagoreans, in particular, by their Monad 
and Dyad." 

The words Gad and Meni occur in Is. lxv. 11, which are 
translated " that troop " and " that number " in the English 
version, and t« Sat/xovlcp and rfj ru^y by the LXX. Meni 
was a Babylonian deity, and one of the names of the moon. 
Gad, according to the Rabbis, signifies a good angel, good 
fortune, a good spirit (Buxtorf, Diet. Hebr. Talm.). 

Connected with this subject is the belief of the ancients 
respecting the eternity of matter. The modern Jews have 
believed for some five or six centuries at least that God 
created the universe out of nothing*, and this is taught in 
their catechisms, and laid down as a fundamental article of 
belief (See Menass. B. Israel, Prob. L, De Creat.). This 
is not only opposed to scientific truth, but to the teaching of 
some of the most eminent among the Jews themselves. 
Philo praises Moses (De Opif. Mundi) " for having well com- 
prehended, both by the light of philosophy, which he was 
thoroughly acquainted with, and also by means of divine 
revelation, that in order to form corporeal beings it is abso- 
lutely necessary to have two causes, one active, and the 
other passive, the agent and the subject. In the creation of 
the world this agent is the Spirit of the Universe ( f O twv 
oXcov Nous-), and the subject is a being which is dead, inani- 
mate, incapable of self-motion, or at any rate of moving in 
an orderly manner, or of forming itself into shape, but 



PIIILO OX THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 221 

capable of being moulded into that forin which it may please 
God to give to it." Philo adds that " the Creator of the 
Universe being naturally good, and goodness not being- 
invidious, but generous and liberal, he wished to extend 
his benefactions over a substance which, having nothing- 
good in itself, might nevertheless become what the Creator 
wished to make of it." He is opposed to the belief of the 
Stoics, who thought that the world would be destroyed by 
fire, and gives among other reasons for rejecting it an ancient 
axiom of the philosophers that "As nothing can come from 
nothing, so nothing can be annihilated, and it is equally 
impossible for a thing to pass from existence to nothingness, 
and for a thing to pass from nothingness into existence." He 
says "The word corruption, or destruction, signifies in one 
respect a change for the worse, and in another, total destruc- 
tion of what once existed, and which we may call annihila- 
tion. But this can never take place, because nothing can 
come of nothing, therefore neither can that which perishes 
be reduced to nothingness ; and just as it is impossible that 
anything should be made of that which does not exist, so 
neither can it be believed that that which is should be totally 
destroyed, as the tragic poet says, ' Never does that which 
has been engendered perish, but, transmuted into other 
shapes, it becomes transformed in diverse manners.' It 
would be absurd, therefore, to suppose that the Universe 
can be destroyed." 

Eliezer, surnamed the Great, asks, " Of what were the 
heavens made? God took some light from his garments, 
he spread out this light as a vesture, and the heavens were 
spread out and flowed, as it is said (Ps. civ. 2) : • Who coverest 
thyself with light as with a garment : who stretchest out 
the heavens like a curtain.' And of what was the earth 
made ? God took some snow, which was under the throne 
of glory, and spread it on the waters, and they became 
frozen, according to that other saying (Job xxxvii. 6), ' He 
saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth.' " Eliezer also 
says that there were seven things which existed before the 
creation, which God had made, viz. the Law, Hell, Paradise, 
or the Garden of Eden, the Throne of Glory, the House of 
the Sanctuary, Repentance, and the ISTame of the Messiah. He 
says that God took man out of the House of the Sanctuary 
to place him in the garden of Eden, and that when he 



222 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

wished to adorn the earth with plants he opened a gate of 
this garden, and made the plants, which cover the face of the 
earth, go out at it. 

The Jews have a cabalistic book which is called Jezirah, 
that is, formation, not creation as the modern Jews under- 
stand it. The Jews say that Abraham wrote this book ; but 
whoever was the author of it, it is certain that it does not 
countenance the belief that the world was made out of nothing. 
It says that the three letters Aleph, Mem, and Tschin are 
the three mothers of all things, and that they begat the three 
fathers of all that exists in the Universe. The meaning of 
this is that these three letters are contained in the Jewish 
names for air, water, and fire, of which all things have been 
made. The souls, however, are not made of this substance, 
but of a subtle and spiritual body which the Jews called the 
Holy Ghost or Spirit, and they say that the angels are made 
of the same substance. Basnage (Hist, des Juifs, T. IV. c. 6) 
says " The Jews have had four different beliefs respecting the 
Creation. The first, who are the most numerous, follow 
Moses and the account in Genesis. The second have adopted 
the belief that another world existed before ours, which God 
had destroyed, and which had come to an end because each 
world ought only to last seven thousand years. The third 
class invented Spinozism, and the fourth conceive that all 
creatures emanated from God, but they have introduced 
many absurdities into this system." He also says that "in 
the time of Maimonides, in the twelfth century, a contro- 
versy arose respecting the age of the world, which was held 
to be eternal. Some, having embraced the Aristotelian 
philosophy, which was much in vogue at that time, adopted 
his opinions respecting the eternity of the world, while others 
said that matter was eternal," &c. 

Photius says that Clemens Alexandrinus taught in his 
Hypotyposes that several worlds existed before Adam, 17 o\\ov$ 
Trpb tov ^ASa/uu koct/ulov? rsparsvsraL. St. Basil (In Hexam. 
Horn. I.) says " There existed before this world was created 
a world which was of a nature and a constitution which was 
totally different to ours : a world which was suitable to the 
celestial virtues, which existed before Time, and which is 
eternal and perpetual. The Creator formed in it an intellec- 
tual light (<j)cos votjtov) such as is suitable for the happiness 
of reasonable and invisible natures which love the Lord." 



THE WAR OF THE REBEL ANGELS. ZZ6 

Jerome in his Commentary on the Epistle to Titus is of the 
same opinion. " Our world," he says, " has not yet lasted 
six thousand years, but how many ages and how many eter- 
nities elapsed previously, during which time the angels, 
thrones, dominations, and other virtues (caeteneque virtutes) 
served the Lord, by whose command they existed when there 
was as yet neither measure nor vicissitudes of Time?" Origen, 
Chrysostom, Damascenus, Olympiodorus, and other Greek 
fathers, and ZSTovatian, Ambrose, Isidore of Seville, Bede and 
others among the Latin fathers, have held the same opinion. 
In fact, those who believe in the existence of angels before 
the creation of the world must entertain it. It was held by 
all the Fathers that the angels had light, subtle bodies 
{acofiara Xtjittu) made of fire or of ether, and therefore this 
igneous or ethereal substance must have been in existence 
even before the angels were created. 

These speculations would possess little interest if they 
were not connected with psychological and other inquiries, 
but the whole fabric of theology as that term is usually 
understood rests upon them. The tradition of a war of the 
rebel angels with God, of which there is not a trace to be 
found in Genesis, was very generally spread throughout the 
East. Celsus, speaking of the Christians, says, " They have 
settled that God must have an adversary, whom they call 
the devil, which is an idea very insulting to the Deity, and 
which reduces him to the level of a mere mortal. The great 
God, therefore, when he wishes to do men good, finds an 
enemy who resists him, and prevents him from doing so." 
He also says, " The ancients speak enigmatically of a cer- 
tain divine war ; Heraclitus speaks of it as follows : c Ifwe 
must admit that there has been a general war and dissension, 
and that everything is done and governed by this dissension.' 
Pherecides, who is a much more ancient author than Hera- 
clitus, represents in a mystic fable two hostile armies, the 
leader of one of which is Saturn, and of the other Ophioneus. 
He narrates their mutual defiances and their combats, which 
were followed by a mutual agreement that whichever of the 
two parties should be driven into the ocean should confess 
itself conquered, and that the others, who had expelled their 
enemies, should remain, as conquerors, the masters of heaven. 
The story of the Titans and the giants who made war against 
the gods contains similar mysteries, as does also that of 



224 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Typhon, of Horus, and of Osiris among the Egyptians." 
Celsus goes on to mention what Jupiter says to Juno in 
Homer, namely, that she ought to remember that he sus- 
pended her one day in mid- air, and then says, " These are 
the words of God speaking to matter. This signifies that 
God in the beginning, finding matter in disorder and without 
form, gave it order and ornament by means of the justness of 
the bonds which he had joined the parts of, and that in order 
to punish the demons, who busied themselves in keeping 
matters in disorder, he had precipitated them into the infer- 
nal regions." The meaning of this is that the ancients 
considered Juno to be the emblem of matter, because she 
was the sister and wife of Jupiter ; his sister because they 
believed her to be co-eternal with Jupiter, and his wife 
because she was the subject out of which he formed the 
world. Hierocles says that if matter is held to be uncreated, 
it is the equal of God and his sister, ttjv sir tcrrjs clvtw ayhvrjTov 
ova lav . „ . , kgI aSsXfajv. 

The Magi, from whose traditions this fiction passed into 
the West, said that Ahriman, at the head of a powerful army, 
declared war against light, but that the angels, stepping in 
as mediators, made peace on certain conditions (Hyde de Yet. 
Pers. Eel., p. 296 ; see also Plutarch De Isid., who speaks of 
this war between Ormuzd and Ahriman). This is still the 
belief of those remnants of the ancient Persians who took 
refuge in India after the Arabian conquest. These people 
believe that God, having created the good angels, who are 
his ministers, ordered them to make heaven ; but that as 
soon as heaven was created, hideous darkness appeared, 
which was distant nine thousand six hundred parasangs 
from God on all sides. As soon as God saw the darkness, 
he knew that it was Ahriman, and that he had a powerful 
army with him. Ahriman had already revolted, and had 
escaped from heaven, after breaking open the gates of his 
prison. God sent four of his strongest angels as soon as he 
could to fight with the devil and take him prisoner. These 
four angels were Erdibehist, that is the strongest angel in 
Paradise ; Azur, or the angel who presides over fire ; Somish, 
who is identical with Gabriel, his name having the same 
meaning, viz. the might of God ; and Behram, or the angel 
who presides over war, and whose name indicates a red or 
fiery colour (Hyde, ib. p. 241, &c). Ahriman was conquered 



ANCIENT IDEAS RESPECTING THE SOUL. 225 

and compelled to submit ; but God would not destroy him 
and his angels, because if he did so the glory of his clemency 
would not shine forth so brightly, and because if everything 
were good in the world there would be no distinction between 
vice and virtue. 

Plato, who took his system respecting the formation of the 
world and of the soul from Timseus of Locris, who in turn 
had taken it from Pythagoras, endeavours to explain in the 
Timseus how the First Cause formed the soul. " God," he 
says, " began by producing the soul, which has the advan- 
tage of being older than, as well as superior to the body. It 
is made to command the body, as the latter is made to obey 
it. God, therefore, took some of the indivisible substance, 
which is always the same, and always resembles itself, and 
some of that which is divisible, and divided amongst bodies 
{kcli ttjs av irspl ra crcofiara yiyvo/uisvr}? fJLSpujTr)?). Of these 
two substances he made one of a third species, which holds 
the middle place between the two others. This he placed 
between the indivisible and the divisible substance. Of these 
three substances united he made the human soul, which is 
composed of the same, of the different, and of essence (ek re 
ravTov, fcal Oarspov, tcai rrjs o^cr/as 1 )." Plato gave an arithme- 
tical principle to the soul and a geometrical one to the body 
(Diog. Laert., 1. iii.; Vit. Pythag.). 

The most ancient and widely-spread belief was that the 
souls of men are pure and celestial substances, which existed 
before bodies were created, and which came down from 
heaven to animate the latter. E. Menasseh ben Israel (Probl. 
x. de Great.) says that "this has always been the belief of 
his nation. Hermes, Pythagoras, Plato, and the other 
Pagans, took it from the Jews. It is taught in the Scrip- 
tures. All human souls were in existence when the world 
was created, and were present in the Garden of Eden when 
God entered into a compact with Adam." Lactantius (Inst. 
1. iii. 18) has observed that this was the belief of all the an- 
cient philosophers : " They held that it was impossible that 
the soul should exist after the body if it had not existed 
before it." All the ablest of the Greek fathers embraced 
this opinion, and a portion of the Latin fathers followed 
them. Augustine (De Gen. ad liter. 1. vii. 24) says that it is 
probable that God created all the souls of men in the begin- 
ning. St. Jerome is also said to have been of this opinion^ 

Q 



226 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

and Philaster holds persons who do not believe that souls 
were created before bodies to be heretics. 

Arnobius is much struck by the difficulty of the questions 
which arise from this supposition. After describing the 
miseries and vices of human nature, he asks, " How can one 
say, or rather think, that God tore peaceable and innocent 
souls from their abode of happiness in order to plunge them 
in a gulf of ills, by uniting them to matter, which is the in- 
exhaustible source of them?" He finds himself compelled 
to believe that the soul is material and mortal ; that the souls 
of the wicked are annihilated after being long punished ; 
and that the souls of the just become immortal through 
the knowledge of the Saviour, " ejus enim cognitio fermen- 
tum quoddam est, vitse ac rei dissociabilis glutinum." 

The philosophers escaped from this difficulty by supposing 
that the souls had committed sin in their ante-natal state. 
Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. iii.) says that Philolaus the 
Pythagorean taught that the soul is burred in the body as in 
a tomb in order to expiate certain sins, and adds that this 
belief was not peculiar to Philolaus, but that the most an- 
cient theologians and prophets held the same belief. Plato 
supposed that the celestial souls are animated with a secret 
wish to unite themselves to bodies, and that this terrestrial 
longing is a weight which drags them down to this lower 
world. The Essenes also believed that " souls descend from 
the most subtle ether, attracted to bodies by the charms of 
matter." (Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 8.) The Cabalists deve- 
loped this doctrine in their four worlds, the Azilutic, Briatic, 
Jeziratic, and Aziathic, through which souls descend. They 
held that virtuous souls return to the Azilutic world after 
once passing through the others ; that to the rest, God allows 
them to make two more pilgrimages, and that if they are 
then unable to return to the Azilutic world, they are very 
severely punished. 

Philo says, " The soul was not formed of anything that 
had been created. It came from the Father and Ruler of 
the Universe. For the words 'God breathed 5 mean nothing 
else than that this divine breath (or spirit) emanated from 
that happy Nature, and was sent here below, as into a foreign 
country, in order to be useful to Nature." The Jew Tryphon 
asks Justin Martyr, " What affinity, what connection is 
there between God and the soul ? Is the soul divine, immor- 






plato's division of souls. 227 

tal, and a portion of the Boyal Mind (rov fiaaiXtKov Nov), 
that is, of the Spirit which governs the world?" Justin 
answers, " It is so, beyond the possibility of contradiction." 
St. Augustine, however, has pointed out in his discussion 
with Fortunatus, the Manichsean bishop, that this involves 
the liability of a portion of the substance of God to error 
and sin. Notwithstanding this difficulty, which Augustine 
endeavours to remove by the absurd idea of distinguish- 
ing between the essence of God and the substance of his 
kingdom, that is, between the five good elements, air, light, 
good fire, good water, and good wind, as distinct from 
smoke, darkness, bad fire, &c. (Aug. de Hser., c. 46), Tatian, 
Justin's disciple, considers the soul to be material and mortal, 
but holds the spirit to be immortal, and to be a portion of 
the Father. The author of the Clementine Homilies (Horn. 
xv.) says that "the soul, proceeding from God, is of the 
same substance as God." Lactantius and Origen held the 
same opinion. 

It was a maxim of ancient philosophy that God gave 
souls more or less perfect bodies to dwell in in proportion to 
their own merits. Porphyry says, " According to the dis- 
positions of the soul it receives a body which is suitable to 
them. Perfectly pure souls receive bodies which approach 
as nearly as possible to the immateriality of ethereal bodies. 
Those souls which stoop from pure reason to the objects of 
sense receive a body of the same nature as the sun, but 
those which become effeminate, and which are captivated by 
the glitter of visible beauty, are compelled to dwell in bodies 
of the nature of the moon." It was also held that the 
spirits which dwelt in the stars were much more perfect 
than those which dwell in terrestrial bodies. Philo calls 
them very pure spirits, "perfectly just and holy, without any 
mixture, or any contagion of evil." 

Plato held that there were three sorts of souls, differing in 
perfection and purity — the universal soul, the souls of the 
stars, and the human souls. He says that God mixed the 
indivisible substance with the divisible, and formed first 
the soul of the universe, which Synesius calls the %so9 
iyKoa/JLios, or the God who animates the world. As the com- 
position of this soul did not exhaust all the substance that 
God had prepared, he poured the rest into a vase, and 
mingled them again in the same manner as he had done 

Q 2 



228 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

before, but the result of this mixture was not so pure as that 
of the former one. Souls appeared in it of a second and third 
rate description. After this, God having constructed the 
machine of the universe, selected the purest souls, and distri- 
buted them among the stars, showing them the world, the 
inspection and government of which he confided to them. 
He next took the most imperfect souls, and these were ap- 
pointed to animate and rule human bodies. The reason 
of this, according to Chalcidius (in Tim.), is, that " souls 
made of the purest portion of the mingled substances would 
not have been able to fall into the vices of matter, nor to 
accommodate themselves to the fragile nature of mortal 
bodies." 



THE METEMPSYCHOSIS A JEWISH BELIEF. 229 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Cabalists believed that as the soul is a portion of, and an 
emanation from, the Deity, it possessed the power of mul- 
tiplying itself ad infinitum. Hence they concluded, first, 
that all human souls were included in the soul of Adam ; 
and, secondly, that they have all sinned in Adam since they 
were all in him. Augustine says that he cannot decide whether 
Adam is only the father of our bodies, or of both our bodies 
and our souls, but he thinks that he must be the -father of 
both, because when Eve was made out of Adam's rib, God 
did not breathe a fresh breath of life into her, and therefore 
the soul of Eve must have been a particle of or emanation 
from that of Adam, from which it follows that one soul can 
engender another soul without diminution of its substance. 
He applies this to the doctrine of Original Sin as follows 
(De Ani. et Orig. L. I. 1 7) : "If it is true that man engen- 
ders man altogether — that is, that he engenders the body, 
the soul, and the spirit, the words of St. Paul, 6 In whom all 
have sinned, 5 are spoken in their literal sense." This won- 
derful piece of reasoning was, however, looked upon in the 
Eastern Churches as not only very dangerous, but as being, 
as Methodius (In Symp.) calls it, " unworthy of any cre- 
dence." 

In John ix. 2, the disciples are represented as believing in 
the Metempsychosis, for they ask whether the man who was 
born blind had committed any sin in his ante-natal state. 
Josephus (De Bell. Jud. II. 7) says that the Pharisees only 
admitted the Metempsychosis for the souls of the just, but 
he has probably confounded it in this passage with the re- 
surrection of the just. Sandius (De Orig. Animse) gives the 
following account of what the belief really was : " R. Elias 
says that the doctrine of the Metempsychosis is received and 
approved by the doctors; they have no doubt that human souls 
pass at least three times from one body to another. They 



230 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

are positive that Adam's soul passed into David, and that it 
will one day animate the body of the Messiah. The Cabalistic 
proof of this mystery is the name of Adam, for A signifies 
Adam ; D, David ; and M, the Messiah. The Cabalists also 
say that the soul of an adulterer is sent into a camel, and 
that David would have undergone that penalty if he had not 
repented, and that this is what the prophet alludes to in the 
Psalms, ' I will praise the Lord on account of his goodness 
towards me, and because he has delivered my soul from 
the camel. 3 " Photius (Cod. 117) tells us that Origen held 
that the soul of Jesus Christ was the same as that of Adam, 
and there is no doubt that he, as well as Chalcidius, Synesius, 
and other eminent Christian divines and philosophers, be- 
lieved in the transmigration of souls. The learned Eabbi 
Menasseh ben Israel (Prob. xvii. de Creat.) says, " God does 
not lose souls altogether, and never annihilates them, for he 
has not determined to banish them absolutely and for ever 
from his presence, but only for a time, until they are purified 
from their sins, after which he sends them back into the 
world by means of the Metempsychosis." 

The teaching of the Fathers respecting the doctrines of 
the soul was exclusively founded on the belief that heaven 
was an immense vault extended above the earth. Synesius 
(Hym. III. vv. 618 et seq.) offers the following prayer to 
God : " Let my suppliant soul, marked with the seal of the 
Father, scare away the hostile demons, who, issuing forth 
from their subterranean caves, take possession of the loftier 
regions, and make impious .efforts to prevent souls from at- 
taining to heaven. Make a sign to thy servants, to the 
inhabitants of that glorious world, who hold the keys of the 
ethereal journey, to open to it the gates of light." Others 
held that souls, being on the earth, and united to bodies, 
necessarily acquired a certain degree of weight, which ren- 
dered it necessary for them to have some aid in order to 
enable them to get to heaven. The learned Windet (De 
vita functorum statu) says, " If we may believe the Samaritan 
interpolation, an angel took Enoch and transported him to 
heaven. St. Chrysostom represents the angels, whom he 
calls the guards of God, as carrying the soul of Lazarus into 
the bosom of Abraham. Euthymius Zigatenes says that the 
horses of fire which carried up Elijah* were angels who had 
assumed that appearance, and we see in the Chaldee para- 



PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY. 231 

phrase of the Song of Songs that the souls of the saints are 
conveyed to Paradise by the angels." 

The Emperor Julian (Orat. v.) has explained the Pagan 
belief: " Since the sun has the power of raising subtile and 
light bodies by means of corporeal heat, much more must he 
be able to raise virtuous souls by means of that secret, per- 
fectly incorporeal, divine, and pure essence which dwells in his 
rays." This was a Chaldsean belief, for he adds, "If I wished to 
explain at greater length the secrets and mysteries which the 
Chaldsean has sung respecting the God who is illustrious by 
his rays, and who raises souls by his virtue, I should speak 
of things which are obscure and unknown, especially to the 
vulgar, but which are well known to those fortunate indi- 
viduals who understand the mysteries of the Theurgy." St. 
Epiphanius says that the souls of the saved do not remain in 
the sun, but that the sun passes them on to the Mon of the 
happy. Tyrbonius says that " after the moon has remitted 
the souls she is full of to the iEons of the Father, they remain 
in the column of Glory, which is called the perfect air. This 
air is a column of light, because it is full of purified souls." 
The perfect air is that which is free from all admixture of 
matter, and is described in the verses attributed to Pythagoras 
as follows : 

n Ai/ 8' a7r6\eiyjras aco/ia, is afflep' iXsvOspov sX0r}9, 
"QacrsaL aOavdTos, (dsos dfji/3poro9, ov/c stl OvrjTos. 

" When you have left this body, you will pass into the ether, 
which is free, and you will become an immortal god." The 
column of glory, or light, is the Milky Way. 

These beliefs were modified by the supposed exigencies of 
Christian belief. Some of the Fathers held that as the 
faithful were to reign a thousand years on the earth with 
Christ, it would be necessary that they should rise with their 
bodies of flesh and blood, but that when they went to heaven 
they would leave their human and corruptible bodies behind 
them. St. Epiphanius (Hser. Ixvi. § 35), however, thinks that 
the elect will eat and drink in heaven, but declines to mention 
the nature of the celestial aliments. St. Gregory of Nyssa, 
on the contrary, says with reference to Christ's body, and 
presumably with reference to all other bodies, that it has no 
longer the figure, or shape, or extent, or any internal or 
external parts of the human body. " I will never believe," 



232 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

lie says, "that there is anything corporeal left of Jesus 
Christ." 

The Essenes were of the same opinion as the Sadducees, 
who denied a corporeal resurrection. Josephus (De Bell. 
Jnd. ii. 7) says that they considered that our bodies are 
corruptible, and that matter is not permanent, but that our 
souls, which are retained in our bodies as in a prison, gladly 
take their flight to heaven when they are delivered from the 
bonds of the flesh. Synesius (who was bishop of Ptolemais) 
believed that the soul was immortal, but could not believe in 
the resurrection of the body. He believed that souls were 
originally pure spirits, which had descended to the material 
world, and he says (Bpist. 105), " You know that Philosophy 
is directly opposed to certain dogmas which are generally 
received. I can, therefore, never persuade myself that the 
soul was born after the formation of the body." In another 
place he says, " I will never believe that the world, or the 
other parts of the universe, will be destroyed." This was 
also in accordance with the teaching of those philosophers 
who held that it was impossible that God, who had created 
the universe, should ever destroy it. Such an act, they said, 
would show ignorance in the Creator, and imperfection in 
the work. Synesius adds that " as to that Resurrection 
which is preached, I am persuaded that it is a sacred and 
secret mystery, and I am very far from thinking about it as 
the common people do." As he held that matter is the 
cause of evil, it is easy to see that he cannot have believed in 
the resurrection of the body at all. 

Modern divines not only believe in a bodily resurrection, 
but possess the most accurate information respecting the 
next world. Cardinal Bellarmine, in a treatise on Purgatory, 
says that there are four different places beneath the earth, 
or rather a place divided into four parts, the deepest of 
which is hell. This place contains all the souls of the 
damned, and also all the devils. The bodies of the damned 
will also be there after the resurrection. The nearest place 
to hell is Purgatory, where souls appease the anger of God 
by their sufferings. He says that there are the same fires 
and the same torments in both places, the only difference 
being in their duration. Next to Purgatory is the limbo 
of unbaptized infants. The fourth place is the limbo of 
those just men who died before the birth of Christ, but since 
that event this division is empty, like an apartment to let, 



ORIGIN OF THE DEMOXS. 233 

The celebrated theologian Tillemont condemns all the Pagans 
to the eternal torments of hell because they lived before the 
time of Jesus, and could not be benefited by his redemption. 

The Fathers, however, are by no means agreed upon this 
subject. Besides Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus taught the 
universal redemption of mankind by Christ, and he is indig- 
nant with those who say that redemption is reserved for a 
few privileged persons (tcuv /jlsv tcov 6' ov). He says (Strom., 
1. VI.) that in creating man God has disposed everything in 
such a manner as to ensure the salvation of all : irpbs /ulev yap 
tt]v rod oXov crcoTrjpiav ravrd scttl Biarsray/jLEva, teal Ka6' okov, 
teal sirl fispov?. St. Gregory of Nyssa also says that there is a 
natural necessity why the immortal soul should be healed 
and purified, and that if it has not been so healed and 
purified during its life on earth, it must be so in the life to 
come. 

Tatian, who was a disciple of Justin Martyr, taught 
(Contra Grsec.) that " the devils are made of matter. Not 
only are their bodies made of it, but their souls also issued 
from it, which renders them dainty and luxurious. They 
have not flesh and blood as we have, but their substance is 
like fire and air. Being composed of what is most subtile 
and unconfined, as well as of what is most vicious in matter, 
they cannot be converted ; their substance leaves no place 
for repentance, for they are the rays of matter and of wicked- 
ness. Some, however, whose nature is not so bad as that of 
the others, have become susceptible of repentance. They are, 
generally speaking, mortal, though they die with difficulty, be- 
cause they are not made of flesh, but of a spiritual substance. 
Notwithstanding this they will rise again, and be subjected 
to much greater tortures than men, because, having lived for 
many ages, their sins are greater and more numerous." 
Arnobius (Adv. Gentes, 1. I.) also says, " The devils dwell in 
the foulest part of the material world, which is their portion, 
and out of which they are made ;" and Synesius (Hym. II. 
v. 50 et sqq.) explains that " God embellishes the universe 
from the highest heaven down to the lowest portion of mat- 
ter (vXas) in which the dregs of nature produce the tumul- 
tuous and subtle troop of the devils." 

The Fathers were sorely exercised by John viii. 44, for in 
Origen's time the reading of that passage was 'T/ish i/c rod 
irarpbs rov Sia/36\ou sctte, " Ye are from the father of the 
devil ; " and as in the same verse Jesus is represented as 



234 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

saying, " He is a liar, and the father of it," the difficulty of 
finding a father for Satan who was a liar was insuperable. 
Epiphanius, Archelans, and Origen failed in the attempt. 
Cyril of Alexandria says that some Catholics thought that 
Satan had had a son after his fall from heaven, and that it 
was this son who tempted Adam and Eve. Others, accord- 
ing to Jerome, held that the father of the devil was the 
dragon, who rules the seas, and whom the Jews called 
Leviathan. The Fathers were still further pressed with 
difficulties by the heretics. They said that the devil could 
neither be the son of God nor created by him. He could not 
be his son, for in that case he would be consubstantial with 
God, which would be blasphemous. He could not be created 
by him, for he is the son of a father who is a liar, and God 
is truth. They also said that there was nothing in the 
Scriptures respecting the creation of the devil. Driven to 
desperation, the Fathers at length got from the LXX. the 
words in Job xl. 14 : Tovrsariv dp^V TrXdafiaTos Kvpiov. The 
dragon, or behemoth, " is the commencement of the creation 
of God." Origen (in Joan.) and others have actually been 
driven to this pitiable extremity. 

In the Clementine Homilies (xix. § 4) there is a discus- 
sion on this subject between Simon Magus and no less a 
person than the Apostle Peter himself. Simon (who had 
been a disciple of John the Baptist, and who preached ab- 
stinence from all flesh and the most rigorous observance of 
the Sabbath) says to Peter, " Either the Evil One has been 
created, or he has not been created. If he has been created, 
he has been created by God who made all things, either as 
an animal formed by him, or as an emanation from his sub- 
stance, which, being foreign to Nature, has come and mingled 
with her. Or else, perhaps, there was some animate or in- 
animate matter out of which the Evil One was generated 
spontaneously, or out of which God formed him. Or, lastly, 
God must have made him out of nothing, in which case he is 
no longer a real being, but a merely relative existence (rj /cal 
£% ovk ovrcov tcov 7rpo9 tl k<TTiv). If, however, the Evil One 
has not been created, he must have always existed, and is 
therefore immortal." This series of dilemmas embarrasses 
the chief of the Apostles in no small degree. He has great 
doubts as to what he ought to say, and he ends ignominiously 
by endeavouring to show that the true God cannot be the 



AUGUSTINE AND ORIGEN ON THE SCRIPTURES. 235 

cause of evil, but that Scripture has not chosen to explain 
the origin of the Devil. Simon is not satisfied with this 
evasive answer, and ends by informing Peter that " If matter 
is equal to God both in duration and in power, and is also 
hostile to God, it produces of itself powers which are hostile 
to the will of God." 

All these speculations are founded on the literal interpre- 
tation of the allegory in Genesis, which Augustine, with all 
his ability, was unable to defend. He says that the verdure 
of the fields signifies the soul, and that when Moses says 
there was as yet no verdure on the ground, he means that 
souls had not felt any earthly affections. He admits that 
there are no means of preserving the literal meaning of the 
three first chapters of Genesis without attributing to God 
things which are unworthy of him. St. Basil and St. Gregory 
of Nyssa must have held the same opinion, for they col- 
lected the Philocalia, or book of chosen beauties, in which 
Origen, as we have seen, so mercilessly ridicules the literal 
interpretation. He also says (Philocal., c. 1) that "there 
are many simple persons who pride themselves upon being 
members of the Church, and on recognizing God as the 
Creator, in which they are right, but who also, being led 
astray by the letter of Scripture, attribute to Him opinions 
and acts which one would not attribute to the most unjust 
and barbarous of mankind. 5 ' In his seventh Homily on 
Leviticus he goes if possible farther, for he says respecting 
the laws of Moses, " If we keep to the literal interpretation, 
and explain the things which were written in the law accord- 
ing to Jewish ideas, or according to the opinion entertained of 
them by the vulgar, I cannot admit that God gave such laws 
without blushing, for the laws of the Romans, for instance, 
and those of the Athenians, would be far more equitable." He 
even says that " amongst these laws there are many the 
observing of which appears to be impossible or unreason- 
able," noXXot rwv v6fMO)v .... to aXoyov kfJb^alvovaiy 
ETSpoi Bs to ahvvarov. 

The ideas of heaven and hell which are prevalent in 
modern times are founded on that one of the numerous Apo- 
calypses published in the early ages of the Church which is 
attributed to St. John. This composition is ignored by 
Papias, and St. Dionysius of Alexandria (quoted by Eusebius, 
H. E. VII. 25), who lived about the middle of the third eeii- 



236 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

tury, says tliat those who lived before liim held that " it had 
a false title, for it is not of John. Nay, that it is not even a 
revelation, for it is covered with such a dense and thick veil 
of ignorance that not one of the apostles, and not one of the 
holy men, or those of the Church, could be its author, but 
that Cerinthus, the founder of the sect of the Cerinthians, 
wishing to have reputable authority for his own fiction, pre- 
fixed the title." Dionysius himself, after examining the 
whole book, proved that it was impossible for it to be under- 
stood according to the obvious and literal sense, and also 
that, whoever was the author, it was certainly not John. 
The Council of Laodicaea, the first which framed a catalogue 
of the sacred books, and which was held in a.d. 364, does 
not include the Apocalypse in the list of canonical writings, 
though Laodicsea is one of the seven churches mentioned in 
it, and highly praised. In the Eastern churches neither 
Ebedjesu, the metropolitan bishop of Armenia, nor Gregory 
Barhebrseus, nor James of Edessa have explained the book, 
because they did not consider it to be canonical, and because 
it is not in the ancient Syriac version of the New Testament. 
None of the Eastern churches, belonging to the Syrian rite, 
admitted it to be canonical, and Barhebrseus said that it was 
written either by Cerinthus or by some one who was called 
John. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (a.d. 346) enumerates the sacred 
writings in his fourth Catechesis, but the Apocalypse is not 
among them. St. Gregory of Nazianzen also omits it, and, 
in modern times, Luther has declared it to be spurious. 

The Apocalypse is in reality an astrological work, and is 
not an original fiction, but an abridged and deformed copy 
of the vision of Ezekiel, to which circumstance it probably 
owes its insertion into the canonical writings. The four 
animals of the Apocalypse are in Ezekiel, where they are re- 
presented as coming forth from the fire and from the most 
dazzling brightness. These animals moved in circles attached 
to wheels, and the Hebrews called the Zodiac " the wheel of 
the signs." Above these animals is the firmament of crystal 
(Ezek. i. 22), and the man that sat on the throne, who was 
like a jasper and a sardine stone, and round about whose throne 
was a rainbow (Rev. iv. 2), is taken from Ezek. i. 26 and 
Dan. x. 6. The prophet to whom the book was given to eat 
which became as sweet as honey in his mouth (Rev. x. 9, 10) is 
taken from Ezek.iii. 1-3. After this the most fearful calamities 



THE APOCALYPSE AND EZEKIEL COMPARED. 237 

are announced as being about to fall on Jerusalem on ac- 
count of the crimes of its inhabitants (Ezek. iv.). In the 
Apocalypse they are threatened against the universe. In 
both Rev. vii. and Ezek. ix. an angel goes about setting a 
mark upon those who were to be spared. In Ezek. x. 2 and 
Rev. viii. 5 an angel throws coals and fire upon the earth. 
War, famine, and pestilence and beasts, are the three great 
plagues which the avenging deity of the Apocalypse (c. vi.) 
makes use of, and the plagues in EzelL vi. 11 and xii. 16 
are identical. Both in Ezekiel and the Apocalypse the greater 
number perish, and only a few are allowed to escape. The 
whoredoms of Aholah and Aholibah (Ezek. xxiii.) have been 
copied in the Apocalypse under the emblem of the great 
whore of Babylon (c. xviii.), and these two myths represent 
the vices of the corrupt people, whose ruin the writer pre- 
dicts. The ruin of Babylon is predicted in c. xvii. and xviii. 
of the Apocalypse in nearly the same terms as the fall of 
Tyre in Ezekiel (c. xxvii. et sqq.). 

After the fall of Babylon the author of the Apocalypse 
describes the defeat of the great dragon (c. xx.). In the 
same way, after the destruction of the guilty generations of 
Palestine and of Tyre, Ezekiel sets forth the defeat of 
Pharaoh, whom he calls the great dragon (Ezek. xxix. 3), 
and in both works (Rev. xix. 17, 18, and Ezek. xxxii. 4) the 
birds of prey and the wild beasts eat the flesh of the con- 
quered. In Ezek. xxxiv., after the defeat of the great dragon, 
Pharaoh, God says that he is about to come to the assistance 
of the oppressed sheep, to assemble them near him, to bring 
them out of a land of oppression, and to cause them to 
migrate into a land of plenty. He is going to abide with 
them, as being their Lord and their God. In the Apocalypse 
also (c. xx. 4) there is a judgment after the defeat of the 
great dragon, in which the faithful, who are about to reign 
with Christ, are set apart. In v. 8, however, Gog and Magog 
appear, who are in league with the great enemy of the faith- 
ful, and who make war with the saints and with the beloved 
city. Ezekiel also, after reassuring the chastised people 
(c. xxxvi.), makes Gog and Magog appear (c. xxxvii.), and, 
after the people have been gathered together and have en- 
joyed rest for some time, they come and trouble their hap- 
piness by forming a league of several nations against them 
(c. xxxviii. 14-16). They will fall upon the newly-assembled 



238 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

people, and they will appear in the last days before the re- 
establishment of all things, and before the new city is built, 
in a large body, and with powerful armies, but they will be 
destroyed by fire and brimstone (v. 21). God will send a fire 
on Magog (c. xxxix. 6), and they will be burnt with fire 
seven years (v. 9). This is exactly like the Apocalypse, in 
which, after the first resurrection and a reign of peace of a 
thousand years, the hosts of Gog and Magog, the number of 
whom is as the sands of the sea (Rev. xx. 7), are made to 
appear. They compass the camp of the saints about, but fire 
comes down from God out of heaven and devours them (v. 9) . 
These fictions are identical. In Ezek. xxxviii. there is a re- 
surrection which is followed by the defeat of Gog and Magog, 
and it is also after a resurrection that their defeat takes place 
in the Apocalypse (Eev. xx. 5). 

In the same way that the author of the Apocalypse 
(c. xxi.) makes the new Jerusalem appear suddenly, glowing 
with light, and which is seen by the prophet from a lofty 
mountain on which he stands, Ezekiel (c. xl.) is also set on 
a high mountain, and sees a town and a temple which 
shadow forth the restoration of Jerusalem . The angel who 
speaks to John has a reed in his hand (Rev. xxi. 15) to 
measure the city, the dimensions of which he gives, and in 
which the duodecimal numbers are constantly repeated. 
Ezekiel also (c. xl. 3) sees a man or a spirit resembling 
brass, who holds a measuring reed in his hand, and who 
gives him the dimensions of the walls which he measures ; 
three chambers to the east, and afterwards thirty chambers 
(a number equal to the degrees of a sign) formed the western 
front, in which there was a large door. Eight steps (v. 34) 
led up to it — a number equal to that of the eight spheres. 
The north, west, and south fronts were the same. Suddenly 
(c. xliii. 2) the glory of the God of Israel appeared, coming 
from the East. In the middle of the building rises an altar, 
called Harel, or the mountain [height] of God, the dimen- 
sions of which are twelve feet in every direction. The puri- 
fication of the altar lasts seven days (v. 26), and on the 
eighth day offerings are made. No stranger or uncircum- 
cised person is allowed to enter the sanctuary (c. xliv. 9). 
Those who were not inscribed in the sacred book of the 
Lamb were also excluded from the holy town. All these 
ceremonies relate to the sign Aries, or the Passover, as 



ALLEGORICAL MEANING OF BABYLON. 239 

appears from c. xlv. 15, in which a lamb is ordered to be 
offered as an expiatory sacrifice. 

Lastly, after a very detailed description of the new town 
and temple, all the dimensions of which are given to Ezekiel, 
the spirit makes him return to the door of the house 
(c. xlvii. 1), "and behold waters issued out from under the 
threshold of the house eastward . . . and the waters came 
down from under from the right side of the house, at the 
south side of the altar," like the river of Orion, which is 
under Aries in the constellations. A great many trees were 
planted on each side of the river (v. 7), whose leaves will 
never fade, and which will never be without fruit (v. 12), for 
they will bear fresh fruit every month. The fruit will be for 
meat, and the leaves for medicine. All that exist where the 
rivers come shall be healed and live (v. 9). This is identical 
with Rev. xxii. 1, 2, where the angel shows John the pure 
river of the water of life which proceeds out of the throne of 
the Lamb, and on the banks of which is the tree of life, 
which yields fruits twelve times, once every month, and the 
leaves of which possess the power of healing. Ezekiel con- 
cludes with the name of the holy city, Jehovah-shamma, 
"The Lord is there," and the Apocalypse concludes with 
" The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints." [Cod. 
Sin.] 

Babylon, on whose forehead was written mystery (Eev. 
xvii. 5), is an allegorical name intended to contrast with 
Jerusalem. Babylon, in which the Jews had been captives, 
and Jerusalem, were naturally hostile, and therefore the 
Jewish seer chose them as emblems of the two opposing 
principles. Babylon came to represent the world of dark- 
ness and corruption, which was to be destroyed together 
with the spirits or angels of darkness which ruled it, and 
Jerusalem represented the world of light which was to rise 
on the ruins of Babylon at the same time as the Lamb who 
was victorious over the dragon and darkness. This Lamb 
draws after him those who had been initiated into his myste- 
ries, while the corrupt souls of the friends of the serpent are 
buried under the ruins of Babylon or of the dark world. 
Ezekiel (c. xxvi.) chose Tyre to represent the city which re- 
joiced over the misfortunes of Jerusalem. The author of the 
Apocalypse has borrowed the description of Aholah and 
Aholibah to describe the great whore, and that of Tyre to 



240 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

represent the destruction of Babylon and the terror of those 
who traded with her (conf. Eev. xvii., xviii. with Ezek. xxiii., 
xxvi., xxvii., and xxviii.). The expression in Rev. xvii. 1, 
" the great whore that sitteth upon many waters," agrees 
with the position of Tyre, but not with that of Babylon, and 
shows the source from which the description has been taken. 

It is impossible for two fictions to resemble each other 
more strongly, either in the general plan, or in the succes- 
sion of events, or in the similarity of the expressions, which 
are often identical. The names of the churches in the Apo- 
calypse are Phrygian, but the names of Gog and Magog, of 
Babylon, and of the Euphrates, in which four angels are bound 
(Rev. ix. 14), all relate to the country in which Ezekiel was 
living, close to the Euphrates, during the Captivity. The 
author has even imitated (vii. 14, 17) the comparison of the 
shepherd (Ezek. xxxiv. 12-14) who will seek out his sheep, 
and bring them to their own land, and place them in a fat 
pasture on the high mountains of Israel by the rivers, and 
in the inhabited places of the country. In Ezekiel again 
guilty Jerusalem is replaced by the new Jerusalem : in the 
Apocalypse it is Babylon which is destroyed, and which is 
replaced by the new Jerusalem. 

The same mystic idea pervades both works, namely, the 
return of the soul of the initiated person to the celestial 
country, when he has merited by initiation and repentance to 
be restored to his state of primitive innocence, and when he 
has been given up again to that immortal light which he had 
abandoned for this mortal life, the abode of darkness and 
misery, the wretchedness of which was bewailed in the 
mysteries of the Phrygian sectaries. 

In c. i. 14, and vii. 10, the author of the Apocalypse has 
also taken the description of the ancient of days from Dan. 
vii. 9. In c. xiii., the beast with a lion's mouth, the feet of 
a bear, and the body of a leopard, has been made up from the 
four beasts in Daniel. In both works the beasts rise up out of 
the sea. In Dan. vii. 21, and Rev. xiii. 7, the same expres- 
sion, "and it was given unto him to make war with the 
saints, and to overcome them," is made use of. The ten 
horns are also in Daniel, but are given to another beast (v. 7) . 
The expression in the Apocalypse (xii. 14), " a time, and 
times, and half a time," is also in Dan. xii. 7. The ten horns 
which represent ten kings who are to arise in succession in 



JEWISH MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS. 241 

the Apocalypse (xvii. 12) have the same meaning in Dan. 
vii. 24. In Eev. xvii. 13, 14, these horns aid the beast to 
make war with the Lamb, who overcomes them. In Dan. viii. 
4, the beasts are also defeated by Aries, or the Ram. Lastly, 
in Dan. xii. 1, and in Rev. xxi. 27, it is said that every one 
that is written in the book of life shall be saved, 

In John xvi. 34, the people are represented as saying to 
Jesus, " We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth 
for ever, and how sayest thou, The Son of Man must be lifted 
up ? Who is this Son of Man ? " The people were therefore 
ignorant that the Messiah was to be crucified, and the pas- 
sages in the Old Testament which are supposed to speak of 
an expiation for the sins of the people which is to take place 
at the Messianic period (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, xxxvii. 23, Zech. 
xiii. 1, Dan. ix. 24), contain no indication that it was to be 
brought about by the sufferings and death of the Messiah. 
There are, indeed, passages in the Jewish writings which 
assert that a Messiah will die by a violent death, but they do 
not refer to the Messiah properly so called, the descendant of 
David, but to another, who descended from Joseph and 
Ephraim, and who occupied a subordinate position to the 
other. The Messiah ben Joseph, or son of Joseph, was to 
precede the Messiah ben David, or son of David. He was to 
re-unite the ten tribes of the old kingdom of Israel, and the 
two tribes of the kingdom of Judah, but was to perish in the 
battle against Gog and Magog, to which Zech. vii. 10 was held 
to refer. This belief is found in the Gemara of Babylon and 
in the Zohar. 

When the religion spread, and it began to be believed that 
the Messiah had really come, genealogies were constructed 
which made Jesus (by omitting the inconvenient passage in 
Jer. xxii. 30) to be a lineal descendant of David, at least in 
appearance, and the expectation of the triumphant Messiah 
was abandoned. The general belief was that the one Messiah 
was to come from the tribe of Judah under the tropic of 
Capricorn, and the other from the tribe of Ephraim, which is 
the exactly opposite one in the camp of the Hebrews (the 
astrological nature of which has been explained by Kircher), 
that is under the tropic of Capricorn, as Sir William 
Drummond (2Ed. Jud. r plate 15) has shown. Sir William 
says, " Immediately on leaving the sign of Leo, the emblem 

R 



242 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

of Judah, the sun passes into the sign where, as we have 
already seen, the ancient Persians, Arabians, and Syrians 
depicted Yirgo with a male infant in her arms. Now, I 
observe that the Arabians make Messaiel the protecting 
genius in the sign of Yirgo (see Kircher's (Edipus, vol. II. 
p. 245) .... Mesai El appears to be a corruption for 
VKTPTO (msih-al) Messaiah-El, the anointed of El, the male 
infant, who rises in the arms of Yirgo, who was called Jesus 
by the Hebrews, that is, iw (iuso), the Saviour, and was 
hailed the anointed king or Messiah." In the Testament of 
Simeon it is said, " ISTow, dear brethren, obey Levi, and ye 
shall be delivered by Judah. Do not raise yourselves above 
these two tribes, because out of them shall proceed the 
salvation of God (on if avroyv avarsXsL v/ullv to crcortjpLOV tov 
(dsov). For God will raise the high priest out of Levi, and 
out of Judah he will raise the king, who is both God 
and man." In the Testament of Levi also, an angel is re- 
presented as saying to Levi, " It is through you and through 
Judah that the Lord will appear among men." These 
passages refer to the statement in the original Gospel of the 
Birth of Mary, that she was of the tribe of Levi, and which is 
adopted in the third Gospel, where she is made to be the 
cousin, or more properly the relative (avyycvrfs) of Elizabeth, 
who was of the tribe of Levi. The Testament of the Twelve 
Patriarchs, which is of very early date, also traces the 
descent of Mary to the tribe of Levi. The Fathers have 
endeavoured to get over this statement, which is fatal to the 
descent of Christ from David, by saying that Joachim, the 
father of Mary, married Anna, the daughter of Matthan, 
whom they suppose to have been a priest ! It is unnecessary 
to say that there is not the slightest ground for this sup- 
position. 

The Fathers, however, went much beyond the limits of 
ingenious surmises : they did not hesitate to invent texts of 
Scripture when they thought the occasion required it. Thus 
Tertullian (De Cam. Christ, c. 23) says that the miraculous 
birth of Christ had been predicted by Ezekiel : " Legimus 
apud Ezechielem de vacca ilia quse peperit et non peperit;" 
" We have read in Ezekiel of that cow which calved and yet 
did not calve." Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. vii.) merely 
quotes from the Scripture generally : Tstoksv, /cal ov tetoksv, 
Xsysi rj ypaQr,. St. Epiphanius endeavours to fasten this 



INCORPOREAL NATURE OF CHRIST. 243 

supposed prophecy on Isaiah, for after quoting Isa. vii. 14, 
" Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign," &c, he 
says : " The } r oung cow will calve, but they will say she has not 
calved," and he asserts this to be a prophetic indication of 
the heretics who did not believe in the miraculous birth of 
Christ ! In later times the monks, in their eagerness to get, 
by fair or foul means, some confirmation of the story of the 
miraculous birth, forged some verses, which they attributed 
to Ovid, in which they pretended that the Sibyl of Tibur 
(Tivoli) showed Augustus the portrait of the Virgin and the 
infant Jesus. This production was printed at Lubeck in 
1474. The following is an extract from 1. iii. of this 
poem : 

Et jam prsecepit de quadam Virgine, per quam 
In mundum veniet : nobis erit hsec adeunda : 
Hanc Mediatricem dabit humano generi Rex 
Largiter venise, nostrseque salutis amator. 
O Virgo felix ! O Virgo significata 
Per stellas ubi spica nitet ! &c. 

The incorporeal nature of the Christ of the gospels is the 
natural result of his miraculous birth. The Manichseans 
objected that " If the son of Mary is really flesh and blood, 
she cannot have been a virgin ; if she did continue a virgin, 
that which was born of her must have been a phantom." 
Augustine gives the following extraordinary answer : " Let 
the able Manichseus listen to another mystery. A ray of the 
sun passes through a glass : it penetrates the solid substance 
of it, and appears inside the room just as it does outside it : 
it has done no harm to the glass, either on its entrance or on 
its return : the glass remains entire. It is the same with the 
Virgin. God entered into her and returned without injury 
to her virginity." This, however, was merely an evasion of 
the difficulty. ManichaBus spoke of flesh and blood, not of 
the Deity. He also relied on John i. 15, in which the Son 
is spoken of as being in the bosom of the Father, and on 
Matt. x. 40, and other passages, in which the Son is spoken 
of as having been sent. He also enquired whether the 
brethren of Jesus mentioned in Matt. xii. 47 were the 
children of Joseph, or had been miraculously born, and if 
they were not so born, he argued that Mary must have had 
Joseph for a husband after the miraculous birth of Christ. 



244 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

Influenced by these considerations, Paschase Radbert, the 
celebrated monk of the ninth century, who either invented 
or propagated the doctrine of Transubstantiation in the West, 
said that Jesus Christ had never been born at all. He says : 
" Dicis turpern fuisse filio Dei per vulvam processisse : in- 
torquet pars altera telum, non est nattts deus per natu- 
ram mttlieris " — God was not born by means of a woman. 
Paschase and the monks who followed his teaching, said that 
Christ had emerged from the body of the Virgin by some 
aperture which he had made miraculously and closed imme- 
diately. Ratraume, his adversary, does not spare him either 
on the subject of the Real Presence or on this subject. He 
says, tc We must then adopt the belief of the Brahmins, and 
say that Jesus Christ was born like Buddas, the founder of 
this sect, who came into the world through the side of a 
virgin." The orthodox Augustine has laid it down (In Joan. 
Tract., 221) that Jesus Christ never had any real body ; that 
his body passed through that of the Yirgin without causing 
any alteration in it ; and that this same body passed through 
the doors of the house where the disciples were when they 
were shut (John xx. 26). His words are, " Moli corporis ubi 
Divinitas erat ostia clausa non obstiterunt. Hie quippe, non 
eis apertis, intrare potuit, quo nascente virginitas matris in- 
violata permansit." 

Plato, who was himself said to have been born of Parec- 
tonia without connection with his father Aristin, but by a 
connection with Apollo, and whom Origen quotes as an in- 
stance of the possibility of the miraculous birth, has the 
following remarks on the subject of incarnations in the 
second book of his Republic : — " If God were to metamor- 
phose himself, he would assume a more or less perfect form. . 
But it is ridiculous to say that he would change himself into 
a more perfect form, for then there would be something more 
perfect than he is, which is absurd. It is impious to admit 
that he would change himself into something less perfect, 
for God cannot degrade himself. Besides, if he were to 
appear in any other shape than his own, he would lie, because 
he would then appear to be that which he could not be. We 
must, therefore, conclude that he remains in his own simple 
form, which is beauty and perfection." 

The reason why there is so much similarity between the 



THE RELIGIONS OF ZOROASTER AM) MITHRA. 245 

religious beliefs of the nations of antiquity is that studious 
men of all nations who aspired to become the legislators of 
their countries used to resort to Egypt to obtain instruction 
in legislation and in religion. Thus Plutarch tells us, for 
instance, that the hieroglyphs exactly resembled the precepts 
of Pythagoras, and Lycurgus, Solon, Plato, and many others 
drew their information from the abundant sources of Egyp- 
tian learning. The Egyptian astrologer-priests, however, 
only granted, generally speaking, a sort of half initiation 
to those foreigners who had the courage to submit to the 
formidable ordeals of -the mysteries, and as these mysteries 
were always explained in allegorical language founded on 
the hieroglyphic writing, the initiated person was obliged 
to make himself acquainted with this language, which was 
a matter of extreme difficulty to those who had not been 
accustomed to it from childhood. 

Zoroaster, which Hyde says is a name invented by the 
Greeks to translate the Persian name Zerdusht, and which 
is made up of the words Zcopbs and 'Aarr/p, that is, "pure 
star," has established iu the Sad-der and the Zend-Avesta a 
religion which is exactly similar to the Egyptian, which 
seems to show that both must have had a common, though 
remote origin. We have Ormuzd and Ahriman, or the two 
principles which constituted the Deity in the early worship ; 
we have the creation of the world during the six times of the 
six gahans of the reign of God ; we have the introduction of 
evil concurrent with the passage of the sun through Libra ; 
we have the end of the world at the end of the six times or 
the six thousand of the reign of man; we have the redeem- 
ing Ram or Lamb ; the unleavened bread ; baptism ; and the 
worship of that eternal fire which was to regenerate the 
world, the emblem of which was kept burning by the sacred 
virgins on the altar of Phtha at Memphis; we have, in 
short, all the dogmas and ritual of the astrological Egyptian 
religion. 

Mihr, which signifies love, and heat, of which the Greeks, 
who were unable to pronounce it, made Mithra, was the sun- 
god, or more strictly^ speaking, was the sun at the summer 
solstice, when he was represented as a grown-up man with 
a long beard, the sun at the winter solstice being represented 
as a child, at the vernal equinox as a young man without a 
beard, and at the autumnal equinox as an old man. The 



246 GOSPEL HISTOHY. 

end of the world and the last judgment were to take place 
when the summer solstice had passed through the Earn or 
Aries. The Persians represented the end of the world alle- 
gorically by depicting Mithra seated on the ram or on a 
ram's head, as is shown on a votive bronze hand discovered 
at Herculaneum. The fingers of this hand express " Divine 
Justice " in mystic language, for the judgment of the living 
and the dead is to take place after the end of the world and 
the general resurrection. The Persian Mihr filled the func- 
tions of Yirgo, who was the symbol of the summer solstice 
in Egypt when it was used to determine the different posi- 
tions of the heavens. This is why in the time of Herodotus, 
when the Persians were in constant communication with the 
Egyptians, Mihr or Mithra was not represented by a bearded 
man, but by a young woman, the Celestial Yirgin, whom 
Herodotus (Clio, c. 130) calls Yenus Urania. 

The religion of Mithra differs from that of Zoroaster in 
that according to the latter the end of the world will not 
take place until the summer solstice corresponds with the 
star a of Pisces, which will be some four thousand years 
hence, and therefore the disciples of Zoroaster were enabled 
to enjoy the goods of this world in security. Some of the 
Magi, however, probably from an erroneous interpretation of 
the hieroglyphs, thought that this event would take place 
when the vernal equinox had passed through the Ox, and 
corresponded to the Pleiades. The Ox, which is represented 
on the zodiacs of Denderah and Esne, is a different con- 
stellation to Taurus, and the stars which determine its posi- 
tion in the Egyptian zodiac are the Pleiades, and the brilliant 
star in the right shoulder of Orion, which was sacred to 
Horus, the conqueror of Typhon. They were, therefore, in 
constant expectation of the end of the world, and turned all 
their thoughts heavenward, practising self-abnegation, mor- 
tification, fasting, celibacy, isolation, and contempt of con- 
stituted authority (Tertull. de Prescript , 140) . These anti- 
social ideas at length separated their sect altogether from 
that of Zoroaster, who formally condemns all these ascetic 
practices (see Hyde, Hist. Yet. Pers. p. 285 ; Ereret, Mem. 
de l'Acad. des Inscript., t. xvi. p. 283 ; and the Zend-Avesta, 
vol. iii. p. 601). This was why the Mithraic festival was 
held at the vernal equinox, while that of the Mirhagans of 
Persia only began at the winter solstice (Mem. de l'Acad. 



DERIVATION OF THE NAME OF JESUS. 247 

ib.) The whole system is developed in the Mithraic 
monuments, but it is only necessary to observe here that the 
seven fires, stars, or flames which are on the bas-reliefs which 
represent this myth, and which are always placed between 
the sun and the moon, refer to the Pleiades, which corre- 
spond to the constellation of the Ox. 

When Christianity arose, the Jews had thronged Alexan- 
dria, and had acquired by means of bribes many of the 
privileges reserved to the companions of Alexander (Jos. 
cont. Apion, 1. ii. c. 4). The Ptolemies being patrons of 
literature and of science, learned men of all nations resorted 
to Alexandria, which soon became the theatre of religious 
disputes, and each party in turn appealed to the Egyptian 
monuments, on which the secrets of the mysteries were pre- 
served in symbolic characters. Contact with Paganism pro- 
duced the same effect on the Jews as it had done previously 
when the Asmonean princes had been compelled to issue an 
edict forbidding the Jews to read Greek books. Sects were 
formed, the Jewish sacred books were translated, and com- 
mentaries were written upon them. The Caraites wished to 
keep to the literal meaning of the Scriptures, but the majority 
addicted themselves to the allegorical interpretation of them, 
and Aristobulus went so far as to write a commentary on 
the Mosaic law in favour of Ptolemy Philometer. 

At this time some of the Alexandrian astrologers ascer- 
tained that it was the blood of Aries, not that of the Ox, to 
the commencement of which the Iesou corresponded in the 
zodiacs. Iesou in the sacred language signifies the divine 
power of the heavens, or the winter solstice, because it is at 
that period that the sun resumes his strength in order to 
return towards the north. 

The name of Jesus is always written w is/mt, or Iesu, in 
the Talmud, while that of Joshua is written .WITT iktjsJio, 
or Jueso. The derivation of the name of Jesus given in 
Matt. i. 21 is erroneous, for in that case Samson would sig- 
nify Saviour also, for he too was to save Israel (Judges xiii. 5). 
The Iesou, or winter solstice, always corresponded in the 
zodiacs to the first degree of Aries. This Iesou, which was 
symbolically represented by a child sucking its finger, was 
placed over the interval between Aries and Pisces, and as 
Virgo, the symbol of the summer solstice, had to come to 
the primitive Iesou, in order to determine when the rei^u of 



248 GOSPEL HISTOBY. 

God should commence, by means of the precession of the 
equinoxes, this leson was called the sacred, or anointed one, 
which the Greeks have correctly translated 'Kptaros, but 
which does not in the # least correspond to the Jewish rPttfE 
(ms/zie) Messiah. All the great periods of antiquity are 
founded like this one upon the knowledge of the precession 
of the equinoxes. The Egyptians allowed 24,000 years for 
their great period, being at the rate of 66.66 years for a 
degree, or 666 years for a decan (ten degrees), omitting the 
fraction; 666 is an Apocalyptic number. The Chaldseans, 
who allowed a hundred years to a degree, allowed 36,000 
years to their great period, and 18,000 years to the reign of 
man. These 18,000 years are identical with the Annus 
Magnus of Heraclitus. Even so late as the 17th century 
some learned men still believed in the Chaldsean period. 

The Alexandrian astrologers saw the error into which the 
followers of Mithra had fallen, but either through ignorance 
or design they took Virgo, who marked the commencement 
of the year (Hor. Apollo, Hierog. iii.), for the symbol of the 
vernal equinox, at which period the Alexandrine year used to 
commence. They announced, therefore, that the end of the 
world would take place when the vernal equinox corre- 
sponded to the star a of Pisces. In the mystic language they 
would have said : " The blood of the Earn, has just been shed ; 
the union of Virgo and Aries has just been brought about ; 
Virgo has just given birth to Aries ; Virgo has just given birth 
to lesou ; Virgo has just crushed the head of the serpent [the 
spirit of death and darkness] ; the reign of God is at hand." 
We know that the names of Jesus, John, and Mary are 
found on monuments long anterior to Christianity. On the 
Zodiac of Denderah the Celestial Virgin holding Horus, 
symbols which the Egyptians called Marim and lesou in the 
mystic language, have been so mutilated by the Christians 
that only the heads of them remain. This was probably 
done because there were hieroglyphs which might have 
revealed the mystery. lesu, that is, " the divine power of 
the world," was the sacred name of the Word, or Demiurgus, 
and was therefore easily confounded with the lesou of the 
Zodiacs. The lesu whom the Virgin carried in her arms 
was to be put to death at the end of the world, in order to 
rise again, or give place to another lesu. This mystery is 
represented in the sanctuary of the temple of Hermonthis (see 



JOSHUA BEN PERACHJA. 249 

Atlas de la Commiss. d'Egypte, A, Vol. I.) The four virgins 
who represent the four ages of the world deliver Iesu up to 
the three virgins who represent the three ages of the reign 
of God, and Iesu is put to death by the first of the three 
virgins, in order to give place to the Iesu whom the last of 
them is suckling. The first Iesu has been mutilated by the 
Christians. Above this Iesu is the black Scarabeeus, rolling 
in its claws the globe of the universe, so as to set forth the 
symbolic value of the incarnate Word, or Logos ; for the 
Egyptians represented the Word by a black Scarabseus, as they 
did life by a green Scarabseus. The second Iesu was called 
Phtha at Memphis, and "Dies (an anagram of Iesu) in the 
sacred language. In the Mysteries of Eleusis the future Word 
was also known by the name of Uies (Proclus, 1. v.) . Joan was 
the name of the sun from the summer to the winter solstice 
in the sacred language, after which it was called lesou. Joan 
was also called the Baptizer, because the Kile overflows its 
banks at the summer solstice, and because the Egyptians held 
that the pure waters of the Abym, which were above the fir- 
mament, and from which the Nile was supplied, had the 
property of washing away the stains of the body and the soul. 
Besides Herod the Great, there was another Messiah who 
preceded him, who was called Jesus (W*), and who was the 
pupil of a member of the Sanhedrim called Joshua ben 
Perachja, with whom he went to Egypt to learn magic, 
(Sanhedr. f. 107, 2). This is the person alluded to by Celsus 
(Orig. cont. Cels. i. 28), who makes a Jew say that Jesus, 
having gone into service in Egypt, had there learnt some 
magical tricks, and on his return had given himself out to be 
God : Kal (Xs'ysi) ore ovros (6 'Irjaovs) Sia irzvlav si? AiyvTrrov 
/uuo-6dpvr)(Ta$, kccks! hwafisoiv tivcov irsipaOsls, aft als Al<yv7rTioi 
asfivvvovrat, &7rdvr)\6ev, sv rats Svvdfisao fzsya <ppovcov, /ecu Bt 9 
avrds ®sbv avrbv dvrjyopsvas. The only passage in the gospels 
which speaks of Jesus as having been in Egypt is Matt. ii. ? 
14, 15, in which, as has been already observed, the Hebrew 
text of Hos. xi. 2 has been adopted instead of that of the 
LXX., which has 'E£ Alyvirrov fisraKaXsaa ra Ts/cva avrov, "Out 
of Egypt have I called his [Israel's] children," which would 
not have suited the writer's purpose. An old MS. of the 
fourth gospel which is preserved in the archives of the Order 
of the Temple shows, however, that John vi. 41, 42, was 
originally, " The Jews then murmured at him because he 



250 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

said, I am tlie bread which came down from Heaven. And 
they said, Is not this Jesns, the son of Joseph, whose father 
and mother we know ? how is it then he saith, I came down 
from heaven ? Is it because he has dwelt with the Greeks 
that he comes thus to hold converse with us ? What is there 
in common between what he has learnt from the Egyptians, 
and that which our fathers have taught us ? " To say that 
he had dwelt among the Greeks to obtain instruction in 
Egypt, is to say that he came from Alexandria. Those 
Pagans who admitted the existence of Jesus, finding all the 
Egyptian ceremonies in the Christian ritual, said that the 
founder of Christianity had copied the mysteries of the 
Egyptian priests (Arnob. contr. Gentes, 1.1); and this passage 
was struck out in consequence. 

The sacred lesou, the symbol of the primitive winter 
solstice, would be proclaimed to be the offspring of Yirgo, 
the symbol of the vernal equinox, according to the Alexan- 
drian astrologers, when this equinox corresponded to the star 
a of Pisces. This would bring us to about a hundred years 
before the Christian era, and it has now been proved (Jost, 
Geschichte der Isr. 2, s.80, ff.u. 142 der Anhange) that Joshua 
ben Perachja, the instructor of the Jesus who went to Egypt, 
lived at that time. This Jesus was therefore in Egypt in the 
reign of Ptolemy Till., who was despised by the Egyptians 
because* he came to an understanding with the Jews to 
oppress his subjects, as is shown in a fragment of Porphyry 
preserved by Eusebius. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the gospels refer to the 
Zoroastrian prophecies. Sharistani gives the following oracle 
of Zerdusht or Zoroaster : " There will appear in the later 
times a man named Oshanderbegha — that is, the Man of the 
Universe, for he will re-establish justice and religion in it. 
Petiareh, that is, the Devil, will follow him closely, and use 
all his efforts to stop the spread of the doctrine of Oshander- 
begha for twenty years ; but at length another man, named 
Osiderbegha, will arise, who will cause justice to revive, and 
will re-establish the good ancient morality, which had been 
perverted. The kings will obey this man, because he will 
maintain the true religion, and make peace and prosperity 
flourish." Abulpharagius says, " Zoroaster, the teacher of 
the Maguseans, taught the Persians that our Lord Jesus 
Christ would be manifested, and ordered them to bring him 



PitOrHECIES OF ZOROASTER, 251 

presents when lie should be born. He told them that in the 
last times a virgin should conceive, and that when her son 
was born a star would appear which would shine in the day- 
time, in the middle of which they would see the face of a 
young girl. ( It is you, my children,' added Zoroaster, ' who 
will see it before all other nations. As soon as ye see this 
star, go wherever it leads you. Worship this new-born child; 
offer your presents to him ; for he is the lord who created 
heaven.'" Solomon, the Metropolitan of Bussora, gives a 
somewhat different account in his book called "Apis, or the 
Bee," in which there was a chapter on the prophecy of 
Zoroaster respecting Christ. He says that Zoroaster predicted 
the birth of Christ, but confided the secret to a certain 
Gusmazaph and to two other Persian magi, called Sasanes 
and Mahainades. The astrological character of all this is 
evident. 

Lucian says that the Eedeemer was expected by the early 
Christians in the month Mesin, which is the month in which 
the Egyptians celebrated the feast of Harpocrates, who is re- 
presented like the Iesou of the Zodiacs, as a child whom Isis 
was delivered of at the winter solstice (Plut. de Is. c. 11 and 
12). The reason the Christian festivals were fixed on the 
same dates as the Egyptian ones was, that the bishops of 
Rome referred these matters to the patriarchs of Alexandria. 
Leo the Great admitted to the Emperor Marcian, that the 
Church of Alexandria had always had the privilege of ap- 
pointing the moveable feasts. Speaking of the reform of the 
calendar he says : " This is why the Fathers of the Church 
have always passed over errors, and have delegated to the 
Bishop of Alexandria the task of appointing the festivals, 
because the Egyptians seem to have always had the gift of 
calculation." 

The result of what has been said is that the Gospels, 
which lay no claim to Divine inspiration, cannot be regarded 
as historical documents, but as Origen observes, have incor- 
porated with things which [may?] have happened, other 
things which have not happened. They are in all probability, 
as Philo (quoted by Eusebius, H. E. ii. 17) says, "the com- 
mentaries of ancient men, who, as the founders of the sect 
[of the Therapeutae], have left many monuments of this 
doctrine in allegorical representations, which they use as 



252 GOSPEL HISTORY. 

certain models, imitating the manner of the original institu- 
tion." "It is highly probable," continues Eusebius, "that 
the ancient commentaries which he says they have, are the 
very gospels and writings of the Apostles, and probably some 
expositions of the ancient prophets, such as are contained in 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, and many other of St. Paul's 
Epistles." He goes on to say that he considers the declara- 
tions of Philo to be spoken of men of his own religion only, 
and that their monastic and ascetic practices can only be 
found "in the religion of Christians, according to the Gospel." 
Conf. John xiv. 2. " In my Father's house are many cells 
(fjboval)" as in a monastery. Eusebius also says that "they 
expound the sacred writings by obscure, allegorical, and 
figurative expressions. [Conf. Gal. iv. 24, 'which things 
are an allegory.'] For the whole law appears to these 
persons like an animal, of which the literal expressions are 
the body, but the invisible sense that lies enveloped in the 
expressions, the soul." 

Basnage (Hist, des Juifs) has thoroughly examined the 
treatise of Philo on which Eusebius bases these statements, 
and has proved that the Therapeutge were neither Christians 
nor monks, as indeed how could they be ? Eusebius says, 
that though they were not Jews, nor inhabitants of Palestine, 
they were " very likely descended from Hebrews, and there- 
fore were wont to observe very many of the customs of the 
ancients after a more Jewish fashion." The identity of the 
allegorical modes of interpretation may be seen in the fol- 
lowing description of the Pagan mysteries by Julius Fir- 
micus (De Error. Prof. Eel.), as compared with that of the 
Christian mysteries by the Fathers, as given by Beausobre. 
Firmicus says, " In those funerals and lamentations which 
are annually celebrated in honour of Osiris, their defenders 
wish to pretend a physical reason: they call the seeds of 
fruit Osiris, the earth Isis, the natural heat Typhon; and 
because the fruits are ripened by the natural heat, are col- 
lected for the life of man, and are separated from their 
matrimony to the earth, and are sown again when winter 
approaches, this they would have to be the death of Osiris ; 
but when the fruits, by the genial fostering of the earth, 
begin again to be generated by a new procreation, this is the 
finding of Osiris." Beausobre says, "In one word, the suffer- 
ing Jesus is nothing else than what the Manichseans called 



EARLY CHRISTIAN MIRACLES. 253 

the members of God; that is to say, the celestial substance, 
or the souls which have descended from heaven. The earth 
is the Virgin ; the heavenly substance which is in the earth 
is the substance of the Virgin, of which Jesus Christ was 
formed ; the Holy Ghost is the natural heat, by whose virtue 
the earth conceived him; and he becomes an infant in being- 
made to pass through the plants, and from thence again into 
heaven." The meaning of passing through the plants is 
explained by St. Augustine, who says, in answer to Faust us, 
who asked him how many Christs there were, " The suffering- 
Christ whom the earth conceives hf the virtue of the Holy 
Ghost, and which it engenders, which not only hangs on all 
the trees, but which circulates through all plants, he whom 
the Jews crucified under Pontius Pilate, and he who dwells 
in the sun and in the moon, are they three Christs, or only 
one and the same Christ, who with reference to some of his 
parts is bound on all the trees, and who, being free as to his 
other parts, aids those which are bound and imprisoned." 
In another place he says, that according to the bodily 
presence there cannot be three Christs, one on the cross, 
another in the sun, and another in the moon. 

It is impossible to understand how Christianity took such 
deep root among the civilized nations of the world without 
a full knowledge of the fabric of imposture by which it was 
sustained. Modern martyrs die in the most prosaic manner 
by the hands of the savage or the executioner, but the 
ancient ones seldom died like any one else. Polycarp, who 
was bishop of Smyrna, and who had been appointed, as we 
are informed, by the apostles, with whom he was personally 
acquainted, was surrounded -by the flames like the sail of a 
vessel inflated by the wind, and when his persecutors saw 
that the flames would not injure him they ordered the exe- 
cutioner to plunge his sword into him, upon which such a 
quantity of blood gushed out that the fire was extinguished 
(Euseb., H. E., iv. 15). Eusebius also tells a story of a bull 
which tossed others that approached from without on his 
horns, but was not able even to approach the five saints who 
were cast before him (ib. viii. 5). 

Miracles were in fact almost the rule, not the exception. 
Irenseus (quoted by Eusebius, H. E. v. 7) says, " Some must 
certainly and truly cast out devils .... others have 
the knowledge of things to come .... and even the 



254 GOSPEL HISTORY, 

dead have been raised, and continued with us for many years" 
Arnobius and Origen challenge the Pagans to cast out devils 
as was done daily by " the most simple and rustic Christ- 
ians." Narcissus, finding the oil fail in the lamps while the 
deacons were keeping the vigils at the great watch of the 
Passover, prayed over some water from a neighbouring well, 
and it was turned into oil (Euseb., H. E., vi. 9). Eusebius 
says that some of this oil was preserved to his time. 
Eabianus was appointed bishop of Borne by a dove suddenly 
flying down from on high, like the Holy Spirit descending 
upon Christ (ib. vi. 29). .At times an invisible hand restrains 
those who seek to rob the saints of their property, and even 
the dead were compelled to reveal where they had hidden it 
(Sozom. H. E., i. 11), and corpses used to cross their hands 
when the funeral service was read over them (Tertull. de 
Anima, c. 51). The Pagans were invariably represented as 
men without faith or morals, guilty of every crime that 
could be mentioned, and exposed, to the wrath of God. Some, 
however, whom God wished to convert, escaped by being 
lashed by holy angels throughout the night (Euseb., H. E., v. 
28). Jerome (Comm. in Zech. xiv. 12) says, " Zechariah 
tells those who have fought against Jerusalem that their 
flesh shall consume away, and their eyes consume away in 
their holes, and their tongue consume in their mouth, and 
this prediction has been literally accomplished in the case of 
the oppressors of the Church, such as Valerian, Decius, 
Diocletian, Maximian, and Julian." It is needless to say that 
these assertions are totally false. 

In conclusion, as the doctrine of original sin lies in reality 
at the root of all the doctrinal teaching of the present day, 
we shall briefly state what the Jews themselves believe re- 
specting it, admitting, for the sake of argument, that the 
statement in Genesis is inspired, and is to be received lite- 
rally. It is necessary, however, to observe that the Eabbis 
are greatly divided in opinion as to the nature of the sin of 
Adam. E. Eliezer (Pirke Eliezer, c. 21), speaking of the tree 
of knowledge, says, " This is what R. Zehira teaches on this 
subject. It is written, e Ye shall not eat of the tree which 
is in the midst of the garden.' This does not refer to a tree, 
popularly so called, but to man, who resembles a tree, as it 
is said, ' Man is like a tree of the field.' As to the words 
' The tree is in the midst of the garden,' they do not refer 



CONCLUSION. 255 

to the Garden of Eden, but are a metaphorical expression 
videlicet in medio corporis, quod est medio horti, sea in 
medio fceminse. The garden is the woman, as in Solomon's 
Song (iv. 12), ' A garden inclosed is my sister. 5 " Clemens 
Alexandrinus (Strom. 1. III.) says that it consisted in Adam's 
marrying Eve before God had given his consent, and therefore 
they were justly condemned by God for not having obeyed 
his will (Sueata rj Kpicns tov Ssou sttI tovs ovk. ava/xsivovras to 
/3ov\r)fia). Philo (De Opif. Mund.) says that the serpent who 
tempted Adam and Eve was very probably nothing but 
pleasure. 

The Jewish opinion to which we have alluded is that, even 
supposing that Adam sinned in the way described, the De- 
luge, which left only the just Noah and his descendants, did 
away with the consequences of it ; for God (Gen. ix. 1) 
blessed Noah and his sons in the very same terms that he 
blessed Adam and Eve in Gen. i. 28. Enough has been said, 
however, to show that this absurd fable was not credited 
even by those who were most credulous in other matters, 
and that the ordinary representations of God as an inexor- 
able creditor who will be paid, no matter how or by whom, 
are as false as they are irreligious. It is utterly false, too, to 
pretend that death is a penalty, or that there ever was a 
time when it did not exist. As Drummond asks in his 
" Cypress Grove," " Shall the heavens stay their ever-rolling 
wheels, and hold still time to prolong thy miserable days, as 
if the highest of their working were to do homage unto thee? 
Thy death is a part of the order of this all, a part of the 
life of this world ; for while the world is a world, some crea- 
tures must die, and others take life. . . . And when 
the Lord of this universe hath showed us the amazing won- 
ders of his various frame, should we take it to heart, when 
he thinketh time, to dislodge ? This is his unalterable and 
inevitable decree : as we had no part of our will in our 
entrance into this life, we should not presume to any on 
our leaving it, but soberly learn to will that which he wills, 
whose very will giveth being to all that it wills ; and, reve- 
rencing the orderer, not repine at the order and laws, which 
ail-where and always are so perfectly established that who 
would assay to correct and amend any of them, he should 
either make them worse or desire things beyond the level of 
possibility." 



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Containing several Hundred Questions and 
Answers on the Lives of Eminent Men and 
Women. 18mo. Is. 



the Young. 



Second Series of the Stepping 

Stone to Knowledge: containing upwards 
of Eight Hundred Questions and Answers 
on Miscellaneous Subjects not contained in 
the First Series. 18mo. Is. 

Th.e Stepping Stone to French Pronun- 
ciation and Conversation : Containing seve- 
ral Hundred Questions and Answers. By 
Mr. P. Sadler. 18mo. Is. 

The Stepping Stone to English Gram- 
mar : Containing several Hundred Questions 
and Answers on English Grammar. By 
Mr. P. Sadler. 18mo. Is. 

The. Stepping Stone to Natural History: 
Vertebrate or Backboned Animals. 
Part I. Mammalia ; Part II. Birds, Rep- 
tiles, Fishes. 18mo. Is. each Part. 



INDEX. 



Acton's Modern Cookery 19 

Allies on Formation of Christendom 15 

Allen's Discourses of Chrysostom 16 

Alpine Guide (The) 17 

Journal 20 

Amos's Jurisprudence 5 

Anderson's Strength of Materials 9 

Arnold's Manual of English Literature .. 6 

Authority and Conscience 14 

Autumn Holidays of a Country Parson .... 7 

Atre's Treasury of Bible Knowledge 15 

Bacon's Essays by Wbtately 5 

Life and Letters, by Spedding . . 4 

Works 5 

Bain's Mental and Moral Science 8 

on the Senses and Intellect 8 

Ball's Guide to the Central Alps 17 

■ Guide to the "Western Alps 17 

Guide to the Eastern Alps 17 

Bayldon's Rents and Tillages 14 

Beaten Tracks 17 

Becker's Charicles and Gallus 18 

Benfet's Sanskrit-English Dictionary .... 6 

Bernard on British Neutrality 1 

Black's Treatise on Brewing 19 

Blacklet's German-English Dictionary .. 6 

Blaine's Rural Sports 19 

Veterinary Art 19 

Bloxam's Metals 9 

Booth's Saint-Simon 3 

Botjltbee on 39 Articles 14 

Bourne on Screw Propeller 13 

— 's Catechism of the Steam Engine . . 13 

Examples of Modern Engines . . 13 

Handbook of Steam Engine .... 13 

Treatise on the Steam Engine .... 13 

- — ■ Improvements in the same 13 

Bowdler's Family Shakspeare 18 

Braddon's Life in India 16 

Bramley-Moore's Six Sisters of the Valley 18 
Brande's Dictionary of Science, Literature, 

and Art 10 

BRAT's Manual of Anthropology 7 

Philosophy of Necessity 7 

On Force 7 

(Mrs.) Hartland Forest 17 

Bree's Fallacies of Darwinism 10 

Browne's Exposition of the 39 Articles .... 15 

Brunel's Life of Brunel 4 

Buckle's History of Civilisation 2 

Posthumous Remains 7 

Bull's Hints to Mothers 20 

Maternal Management of Children . . 20 

Bunsen's God in History S 

Prayers 14 



Burgomaster's Family (The) .. 1~ 

Burke's Vicissitudes of Families . . . , 5 

Burton's Christian Church 3 

Cabinet Lawyer 20 

Campbell's Norway 16 

Cates's Biographical Dictionary 4 

and Woodward's Encyclopaedia 3 

Cats and Farlie's Moral Emblems 12 

Changed Aspects of Unchanged Truths .... 7 

Chesney's Indian Polity 2 

Waterloo Campaign 2 

Chorale Book for England 12 

Christ the Consoler 14 

Clough's Lives from Plutarch 2 

Colenso on Pentateuch and Book of Joshua 1 5 

Collins's Perspective 13 

Commonplace Philosopher in Town and 

Country, by A. K. H. B 7 

Conington's Translation of Virgil's jEneid 18 

Miscellaneous Writings .... 7 

Contanseau's Two French Dictionaries . . 6 
Conybeare andHowsoN'sLife and Epistles 

of St. Paul 14 

Cooke's Grotesque Animals 12 

Cooper's Surgical Dictionary 11 

Copland's Dictionary of Practical Medicine 12 

Cotton's Memoir and Correspondence .... 4 

Counsel and Comfort from a City Pulpit . . 7 

Cox's (G. W.) Aryan Mythology 3 

Tale of the Great Persian War 2 

Tales of Ancient Greece .... 17 

and Jones's Romances. . — 17 

= Teutonic Tales . . 17 

Creasy on British Constitution 2 

Crest's Encyclopaedia of Civil Engineering 13 

Critical Essays of a Country Parson 7 

Crookes on Beet-Root Sugar 14 

'S Chemical Analysis 11 

Cutlet's Handbook of Telegraphy 13 

Cusack's Student's History of Ireland .... 2 

D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation in 

the time of Calvin 2 

Davidson's Introduction to New Testament 15 

Dead Shot (The), by Marksman 19 

De la Rive's Treatise on Electricity 9 

De Morgan's Paradoxes 7 

Denison's Vice-Regal Life i 1 

Disraeli's Lord George Bentinck 4 

Novels and Tales 17 

Dob son on the Ox 19 

Dove's Law of Storms 9 

Doyle's Fairyland 12 

Drew's Reasons for Faith 14 

Dter's City of Rome • 3 



22 



NEW WORKS published by LONGMANS and CO. 



Eastlake's Gothic Revival 13 

Hints on Household Taste .... 13 

Eaton's Musical Criticism and Biography 4 

Eden's Queensland 16 

Edinburgh Review 20 

Elements of Botany ,... s 10 

Ellicott on New Testament Revision .... 15 

's Commentary on Ephesians .... 15 

■ ■ Galatians .... 15 

Pastoral Epist. 15 

Philippians,&c. 15 

Thessalonians 15 

's Lectures on Life of Christ .... 15 

Erichsen's Surgery 11 

Evans's Ancient Stone Implements 10 

Ewald's History of Israel 15 

Fairbairn ! s Application of Cast and 

Wrought Iron to Building 13 

Information for Engineers .... 13 

Treatise on Mills and Millwork 13 

■ Iron Shipbuilding 13 

Faraday's Life and Letters 4 

Farrar's Chapters on Language 6 

Families of Speech 7 

Fitzwygram on Horses and Stables 19 

Fowler's Collieries and Colliers 19 

Francis's Fishing Book 19 

Frasbr's Magazine 20 

Freshfield's Travels in the Caucasus .... 16 

Froude's English in Ireland 1 

History of England 1 

- Short Studies 7 

Gam gee on Horse- Shoeing , . , . . 19 

Ganot's Elementary Physics 9 

Natural Philosophy ,,,,.... 9 

Garrod's Materia Medica 12 

Giant (The) 17 

Gilbert's Cadore 16 

and Churchill's Dolomites .... 16 

Girdlestone's Bible Synonyms 14 

Girtin's House I Live In 11 

Gledstone's Life of Whitefield 4 

Goddard's Wonderful Stories 17 

Goldsmith's Poems, Illustrated 18 

Goodeve's Mechanism 9 

Graham's Autobiography of Milton 4 

- View of Literature and Art .... 2 

Grant's Ethics of Aristotle 5 

Home Politics 2 

Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson 7 

Gray's Anatomy 11 

Griepin's Algebra and Trigonometry .... 9 

Griffith's Fundamentals 14 

Grove on Correlation of Physical Forces . . 9 

Gurney's Chapters of French History .... 2 

Gwilt's Encyclopaedia of Architecture .... 13 



Hartwig's Harmonies of Nature 10 

Polar World 10 

Sea and its Living Wonders .... 10 

Subterranean World 10 

Hathprton's Memoir and Correspondence 2 

Hayward's Biographical and Critical Essays 4 

Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy 7 

Hewitt on the Diseases of Women 11 



Hodgson's Time and Space 7 

Theory of Practice 7 

Holland's Recollections 4 

Holmes's Surgical Treatment of Children . . 11 
System of Surgery n 

Horne's Introduction to the Scriptures . . 15 

How we Spent the Summer 16 

Howitt's Australian Discovery 17 

Rural Life of England 17 

Visits to Remarkable Places .... 17 

HiiBNER's Pope Sixtus the Fifth 4 

Humboldt's Life 4 

Hume's Essays s 

Treatise on Human Nature 8 

Ihne's History of Rome 3 

Ingelow's Poems 18 

" Story of Doom 18 

James's Christian Counsels 14 

Jameson's Legends of Saints and Martyrs . . 12 

— Legends of the Madonna 12 

— — Legends of the Monastic Orders 12 

Legends of the Saviour 12 

Jamieson on Causality 5 

Jardine's Christian Sacerdotalism 14 

Johnston's Geographical Dictionary 8 

Jones's Royal Institution , . . 4 

Kalisch's Commentary on the Bible 6 

■ Hebrew Grammar 6 

Keith on Destiny of the World 15 

Fulfilment of Prophecy 15 

Kerl's Metallurgy, by Crookes and 

Rohrig , 14 

Kirby and Spence's Entomology 9 

Lang's Ballads and Lyrics 18 

Lanman's Japanese in America 16 

Latham's English Dictionary 6 

Laughton's Nautical Surveying? 9 

Layerack's Setters 19 

Lecky's History of European Morals 8 

Rationalism 8 

Leaders of Public Opinion 4 

Leisure Hours in Town, by A. K. H. B 7 

Lessons of Middle Age, by A. K. H. B 7 

Lewes's Biographical History of Philosophy 3 

Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicons 6 

Life of Man Symbolised 12 

Lindley and Moore's Treasury of Botany 10 

Longman's Edward the Third 2 

Lectures on History of England 2 

Chess Openiugs 20 

Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture .... 14 

Gardening 14 

Plants 10 

Lubbock's Origin of Civilisation 10 

Lytton's Odes of Horace 18 

Lyra Germanica 12, 16 

Macaulay's (Lord) Essays 8 

— History of England . . 1 

Lays of Ancient Rome 18 

Miscellaneous Writings 7 



NEW WORKS published by LONGMANS and CO. 



23 



Macaulay's (Lord) Speeches 5 

Works 1 

Macleod's Pri nciples of Political Philosophy 5 

Dictionary of Political Economy 5 

Theory and Practice of Banking 19 

McCulloch's Dictionary of Commerce ,>>, 19 

Maguibe's Life of Father Mathew ......... 4 

Pitts IX 15 

Mankind, their Origin and Destiny 10 

Manning's England and Christendom .... 15 

Maecet's Natural Philosophy 9 

Marshall's Physiology 12 

Maeshman's History of India 2 

Life of Havelock 5 

Mabtineau's Endeavours after the Chris- 
tian Life 16 

Massingeebd's History of the Reformation 3 

Mathews on Colonial Question 2 

Maundeb's Biographical Treasury 5 

Geographical Treasury 9 

Historical Treasury 3 

Scientific and Literary Treasury 10 

• Treasury of Knowledge 19 

Treasury of Natural History . . 10 

Maxwell's Theory of Heat 9 

Mat's Constitutional History of England.. 1 

Melville's Digby Grand 18 

General Bounce 18 

< Gladiators 18 

Good for Nothing 18 

Holmby House 18 

Interpreter 18 

Kate Coventry 18 

Queen's Maries 18 

Mendelssohn's Letters 4 

Mbeiv ale's Pall of the Roman Republic . . 3 

Rom ans un der the E m pire 3 

Mebeieield's Arithmetic and Mensuration 8 

Magnetism 

and Evees's Navigation . . 8 

M etetaed's Group of Englishmen 4 

Miles on Horse's Foot and Horse Shoeing . 19 

on Horses' Teeth and Stables 19 

Mill (J.) on the Mind 5 

Mill (J. S.) on Liberty 5 

Subjection of "Women 5 

on Representative Government 5 

on Utilitarianism 5 

's Dissertations and Discussions 5 

Political Economy 5 

System of Logic 6 

Hamilton's Philosophy 5 

Milleb's Elements of Chemistry 11 

Inorganic Chemistry 9 

Mitchell's Manual of Architecture 13 

Manual of Assaying 14 

Monsell's Beatitudes 16 

His Presence not his Memory. . 16 

' Spiritual Songs ' 16 

Mooeb's Irish Melodies 18 

Lalla Rookh 18 

Poetical Works 18 

Moeell's Elements of Psychology 6 

Mental Philosophy 6 

Mobsman's Christian Church 3 

MtiLLEE's (Max) Chips from a German 

Workshop 7 

Lectures on the Science of Lan- 
guage 5 

— (K. O.) Literature of Ancient 

Greece 2 



Mtjechison on Liver Complaints 12 

M use's Language and Literature of Greece 2 



Nash's Compendium of the Prayer-Book . . 14 
New Testament Illustrated with Wood En- 
gravings from the Old Masters 12 

Newman's History of his Religious Opinions 5 

Nightingale on Hospitals 20 

Lying-in Institutions .. 20 

Nilsson's Scandinavia 10 

Nobthcott on Lathes and Turning 13 

Notes on Books 20 

Odling's Course of Practical Chemistry . . 11 

Outlines of Chemistry 11 

Owen's Comparative Anatomy and Physio- 
logy of Vertebrate Animals 9 

Lectures on the Invertebrata 9 

Packe's Guide to the Pyrenees 17 

Paget's Lectures on Surgical Pathology . . 10 

Pebeiea's Elements of Materia Medica. ... 12 

Pebeing's Churches and Creeds 14 

Pewtner's Comprehensive Specifier 20 

Pictures in Tyrol 16 

Piesse's Art of Perfumery 14 

Platee-Fbowd's California 16 

Peendebgast's Mastery of Languages 6 

Pbescott's Scripture Difficulties 15 

Present-Day Thoughts, by A. K. H. B 7 

Peoctoe's Astromomical Essays 8 

Orbs around TJs 8 

Plurality of Worlds 8 

Saturn 8 

Scientific Essays 9 

Star Atlas 8 

Star Depths 8 

Sun 8 

Public Schools. Atlas 8 

Rae's Westward by Rail 16 

Ranken on Strains in Trusses 13 

Rawlinson's Parthia 2 

Recreations of a Country Parson, by 

A.K.H.B 7 

Reeve's Royal and Republican France .... 2 

Reichel's See of Rome ~. . . . 14 

Reillt's Map of Mont Blanc 17 

Rivees's Rose Amateur's Guide 10 

Rogees's Eclipse of Faith 7 

Defence of Faith 7 

Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and 

Phrases 6 

Ronalds's Fly-Fisher's Entomology 19 

Rose's Loyola 15 

Rothschild's Israelites 15 

Russell's Pau and the Pyrenees 16 

Sandabs's Justinian's Institutes 5 

Saneoed's English Kings 1 

Savile on Truth of the Bible 15 

Schellen's Spectrum Analysis 8 

Scott's Lectures on the Fine Arts 12 

Albert Durer 12 

Seaside Musing, by A. K. H. B 7 

Seebohm's Oxford Reformers of 1498 2 



24 



NEW WORKS published by LONGMANS and CO. 



Sewell's After Life 17 

Glimpse of the World 17 

History of the Early Church 3 

Journal of a Home Life 16 

Passing Thoughts on Religion . . 16 

Preparation for Communion .... 16 

Readings for Confirmation 16 

Readings for Lent 16 

Examination for Confirmation . . 16 

Stories and Tales 17 

Thoughts for the Age 16 

Thoughts for the Holy Week 16 

Shipley's Essays on Ecclesiastical Reform 14 

Short's Church History 3 

Smi ih's Paul's Voyage and Shipwreck .... 14 

(Sydney) Life and Letters 4 

Miscellaneous Works . . 7 

Wit and Wisdom 7 

(Dr. R. A.) Air and Rain 8 

Southey's Doctor 6 

: Poetical Works 18 

Stanley': History of British Birds 9 

Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 4 

Playground of Europe 16 

Stepping-Stone to Knowledge, &c 20 

Stirling's Protoplasm 7 

Secret of Hegel 7 

Sir William Hamilton 7 

Stockmar's Memoirs 1 

Stonehenge on the Dog 19 

on the Greyhound 19 

Strickland's Queens of England 4 

Sunday Afternoons at the Parish Church of 

a University City, by A. K. H. B 7 

Taylor's History of India 2 

(Jeremy) Works, edited by Eden 16 

Text-Books of Science 8 

Text-Books of Science 9 

Thirlw all's History of Greece 2 

Thomson's Laws of Thought 5 

New World of Being 7 

Thudichum's Chemical Physiology 11 

Todd (A.) on Parliamentary Government . . 1 
and Bowman's Anatomy and Phy- 
siology of Man 12 

Trench's Realities of Irish Life 2 

Trollope's Barchester Towers 18 

Warden 18 

Twiss's Law of Nations 20 

T ynd all's Diamagnetism 9 

Faraday as a Discoverer 4 

Fragments of Science 9 

Hours of Exercise in the Alps. . 16 



Tynd all's Lectures on Electricity 9 

■ ■ Lectures on Light ..'. , . 9 

■ — Lectures on Sound , . 9 

" Heat a Mode of Motion 9 

Molecular Physics r , n 

Ueberweg's System of Logic 

TJre's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and 

Mines 13 

Van Der Hoeven's Handbook of Zoology . . 10 

Vogan's Doctrine of the Euchrist 14 

Watson's Geometry 9 

Principles and Practice of Physic 11 

Watts's Dictionary of Chemistry 11 

Webb's Objects for Common Telescopes 8 

Webster & Wilkinson's Greek Testament 15 

Wellington's Life, by Gleig 4 

West on Children's Diseases 11 

on Children's Nervous Disorders .... 11 

on Nursing Sick Children 20 

Whately's English Synonymes 5 

Logic 5 

Rhetoric 5 

White and Riddle's Latin Dictionaries . . 6 

Wilcocks's Sea Fisherman 19 

Williams's Aristotle's Ethics g 

Williams on Consumption 11 

Willich's Popular Tables 20 

Willis's Principles of Mechanism 13 

Winslow on Light 9 

Wood's (J. G.) Bible Animals 10 

Homes without Hands .... 9 

< Insects at Home 10 

■ Insects Abroad 10 

Strange Dwellings 9 

(T.) Chemical Notes 11 

Wordsworth's Christian Ministry 14 

Yarndale 17 

Tonge's History of England 1 

E nglish-Greek Lexicons 6 

Horace 18 

English Literature 5 

Modern History 3 

Youatt on the Dog 19 

on the Horse 19 

Zeller's Socrates 3 

Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics . . 3 

Zigzagging amongst Dolomites 15 



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